Before Hogwarts
by Medico69
Summary: What if someone helped Harry before he went to Hogwarts? Would that make a difference? Well, I think so; so here is my impression of what MIGHT happen.
1. Chapter 1 The Visitor

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the cannon characters, JKR does. But the new ones are all mine.

* * *

**

Before Hogwarts

The Visitor

It had been almost six years since a baby had been found on the doorstep of #4 Privet Drive and the occupants of that address weren't happy about taking care of another baby. They had taken the baby in, but had never shown it any type of love; in fact the child had grown up treated like a slave and bullied by the only other child in the house. Vernon had just gotten home from work and was sitting at the dinner table when someone knocked on the front door.

"Now who would be knocking on the door at this time of the day?", Vernon asked.

When Vernon opened the door he found a well dressed man who was holding a briefcase in one hand and an umbrella in the other. "Excuse me sir, I am looking for a Vernon Dursley. My name is Richard Green of Chotty, Drew, and Green Attorneys At Law, oh that's barrister here in England. Would you be Mr. Dursley?"

When Vernon acknowledged that he was Vernon Dursley the man explained that he had a sum of money to arrange delivery from a will that his firm was handling, of course he would need proof of identity before discussing anything further. Vernon quickly invited the man inside, after all he didn't want any of his neighbors seeing anything unusual. Once they were inside Mr. Green asked if Vernon's wife was home as he would need to verify both their identities along with all residents of the household.

Vernon called his wife and son into the living room and introduced them. Mr. Green asked about their nephew who he had been told lived there also, so Harry was called from the kitchen.

After looking at the IDs of both adults, and writing them down in a little notebook, he asked Harry to show him the scar on his forehead to verify Harry's identity.

"Now, as I said my name is Richard Green and I have some paperwork to discuss with you. My firm is handling the will of James and Lily Potter; we have been notified of their deaths and need to settle this matter rather quickly. Doesn't look good you know being six years late. Now the terms of the will are these, you Mr. and Mrs. Dursley will be paid a set amount to provide for Harry until his 17th birthday. In addition we will refund all moneys spent on Harry for clothes, school fees, and such; once you provide proof of the expenditures. Harry will be required to spend his summers in the company of one of our people and would be required to spend every other weekend with one of our people so we can get him up to speed on his responsibilities outlined in his parents' will. We will also need to inspect his living quarters every six months to make sure they are up to the standards outlined. Now, all I need are your signatures on these documents and we can get to getting you the money owed for back support, I believe that comes to 120,000. Would you prefer a lump sum check or just to have it added to the next few years payments?"

Vernon couldn't seem to speak, in fact he looked like he was about to have a stroke. Vernon finally got his wits about him and asked if that could be in cash instead of a check. Mr. Green said no it had to be a check for the back pay and all future payments would be direct deposit into his checking account due to taxes and such. Mr. Green opened his briefcase and removed a 4 inch thick set of forms and told Vernon that he would leave them there to be looked over and that they would sign everything tomorrow evening after Harry had been examined by a specialist to rule out a certain genetic defect that had been detected on his mother's side of the family. When asked if Dudley needed to be checked Mr. Green said only if Harry had the defect would the firm pay the 100,000 fee for Dudley to be tested (which would be charged against their annual payment of course).

Mr. Green told them he would return at 9am to pick Harry up and he needed to have a good nights rest and really large breakfast before the test, he suggested that Harry have two eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, juice, and toast. With that said he left so the Dursleys could get back to their dinner. Vernon watched out the window as Mr. Green got in a very nice car and drove away.

At 9am Mr. Green knocked on the door at #4 Privet Drive once again. The door was opened by Harry, who was dressed in clothes that were at least three sizes too big for his frame; but Mr. Green didn't say anything about the way Harry was dressed, he just asked if Mrs. Dursley was available. Harry asked him to have a seat in the living room and he would get his aunt. When Petunia came in she was asked if she would show him where Harry's room was so he could inspect it for the first time. Petunia said it was a mess and she was embarrassed for Mr. Green to see it that way, so Mr. Green said he would look at it when they returned that evening.

As soon as she saw the car turn the corner, Petunia was on the phone to her husband to tell him that Mr. Green wanted to see Harry's room that afternoon, Vernon told her to clean out Dudley's extra bedroom and set Harry up in there. Dudley of course threw a fit about Harry moving into the extra bedroom.

As soon as they were out of sight of the house Mr. Green told Harry he could just call him Rick and that Mr. Green sounded too much like his father's name. Rick then asked Harry what he had for breakfast, Harry told him he had one egg, one strip of bacon and a glass of water since freaks like him didn't need to eat a lot. The first stop was at a diner so Harry could have a real breakfast, after that they went to see about getting Harry some clothes that fit. Once Rick had Harry in new clothes they stopped at a hotel where Rick took Harry upstairs to a room.

"Sit down Harry, we need to talk before we go for your exam. I'm sure you have some questions that need answers as I know I have a few questions for you. First off as I said earlier please just call me Rick when we aren't around your aunt and uncle or your cousin, otherwise I'll just have to call you Mr. Potter all the time. Now I never met your parents so I can't tell you much about them other than they loved you very much. In fact they loved you so much that they died protecting you when you were only 15 months old. Do you know how your parents died?", Rick asked.

"No sir, I was told they died in a car wreck because they were drunk.", Harry replied.

"Harry what would you say if I told you that you were a wizard? And what if I told you your mom and dad were a witch and a wizard too?"

"There is no such thing as witches and wizards, according to my uncle there is no such thing as magic; in fact they get upset if I say the word."

"Well, how about I try and prove it to you that magic exists and that you can probably do magic yourself, would at least then think it might be true?"

"How?"

Rick pulled a wand out of his inside coat pocket and transfigured Harry's clothes into robes and then back again. Harry was shocked and asked if he could do that too. Rick told him that he needed some training before he could do that kind magic but that Harry could try to see if he could get sparks to come out of the wand. He handed Harry his wand and told him to face the window and give the wand a wave, nothing happened and Harry's face fell. Rick explained that maybe that wand wasn't right and Harry should try a different one he had in his briefcase. Rick took another wand from his briefcase and asked Harry to try again; this time the wand produced red and gold sparkles as soon as Harry waved it.

"Very good Harry want to try a real spell? I can't say for sure that you will get it to work but as it is an advanced spell. Point your wand at that plastic cup over there and with your eyes open think about the cup flying to your hand then say _accio cup_ , but you have to really want the cup to come to you." Harry tried and nothing happened, so Rick had him try again and this time the cup slid off the counter on to the floor. Rick levitated the cup back on to the counter and Harry tried again. This time the cup came a little bit further towards Harry before falling.

"I did it, sort of", Harry said.

"Yes you did even better than I expected. Now it is time to go get your exam done, then we'll come back here and talk some more. Now we are going to use a magic way of traveling so hold on to my arm real tight and don't let go until I say. This might feel kind of funny but don't let go no matter what."

Harry grabbed Rick's arm and then he felt as if something was trying to pull him off and the next thing he knew they were standing, at least Rick was standing, outside a set of gates. Rick helped Harry to get his bearings and lead the way inside the gates. As Harry walked through the gates he felt something tingly on his skin, then he saw a very large house where nothing had been before. Rick lead Harry to the door and with a wave of his wand the door opened and they were greeted by the strangest creature Harry had ever seen.

"Tinkie, has Ms. Lucy made it here yet?" "Yes, Master Rick, she is in the parlor waiting for you and the young one."

Rick lead Harry into the parlor and introduced him to Lucy, "Lucy this is Harry, and Harry this is Lucy. She will be doing the testing on you today and she has assured me it will be painless. The only bad part about it is the potion you will have to drink." Rick informed Harry.

Lucy asked Harry to lie down on the sofa, she then waved her wand over Harry in a very complicated manner and soon a long piece of paper came out thin air and into her hands. Lucy looked at the paper for a few minutes then pointed her wand at Harry's arm and then at two vials in her hand, the vials filled with blood. One vial she gave to Rick and the other she placed in her pocket. She gave Harry a small vial that contained a bright green liquid and told Harry to drink it all down. Harry said it tasted like the lime gelatin they served at school sometimes. In just a couple of minutes several colors surrounded Harry, mostly golden but with some red and a couple of black bands; but there was a white stripe that ran from Harry's chin to his waist where no other color showed.

"Rick someone had bound his magic and it isn't the usual binding used by a parent (that is there also). This binding would prevent his magic from developing normally in fact if it isn't removed soon he will only have access to roughly half of his core. The parental binding I can remove easily but the other will take several days with a special potion three times a day and he shouldn't do any magic until the treatment is finished. In addition he is way under weight and is malnourished. I am going to prescribe a vitamin potion once a day for the next month, but he needs a good solid diet three times a day plus a bedtime snack all high in protein.", Lucy explained.

Lucy then asked Harry to stand up as straight as he could with his hands by his side and to be as still as possible. Once Harry stood the colors shifted so that they showed gold and red from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, but there was a single black spot over his scar and the white strip now reached from top to bottom front and back. Lucy told Harry he could either sit or lie down whichever he chose as the colors faded away. Lucy explained that some witches and wizards could see the colors without the aid of the potion and spell she had used and that the colors showed how strong the magic was and where the person's magical strength was strongest.

"You mean like the blue around you? What does that mean? And I can see some dark green mixed in. Rick has a bright white color around him. What do the colors mean?", Harry asked.

Lucy pulled a book out of her pocket and tapped it with her wand so that the book grew. Then started looking through the book until she found the section she was looking for. "Harry the Blue shows that I am a healer and the green shows I'm strong in herbology, the study of plants. You said Rick was bright white, according to my book that means he has no certain strength everything is equal. In your case the white shows that your magic hasn't developed correctly. Once we get it up to par then your colors should even out. From what I have seen you will be a very strong wizard with strong ties to charms and transfiguration. You appear to be what was once called a Battle Mage, and a strong one at that. I haven't seen anyone this strong at your age before, when you get older there will be very few people who can beat you.", Lucy explained to both Rick and Harry.

Rick explained that the brightness or darkness of the primary color gave an indication whether the witch or wizard was basically good or evil, but you should always give the benefit of the doubt until they proved which they were. Lucy excused herself to go brew Harry a couple of potions to hold him over until she could get the exact ones she needed for him. While Lucy was gone Rick suggested they have lunch and called Tinkie to ask for some sandwiches for the two of them, and to save some for Lucy also. Lucy returned just as Harry and Rick finished their lunch and gave Harry two potion vials and told him to take them now.

"The yellow one is a vitamin and nutrition supplement while the other one will start to unbind you magic. You will need to take the yellow one once a day, with breakfast, and the other one three times a day for the next two weeks. I'll warn you that one isn't pleasant tasting, also no magic use until you finish the course of potions and I perform a special spell to complete the unbinding.", Lucy explained.

Harry downed the yellow potion and it wasn't too bad, kind of metallic tasting, the other one tasted like Harry thought dirty socks would taste, foul and disgusting. Harry was glad when Rick handed him a piece of chocolate to help with the after-taste. While Lucy ate her sandwich and crisps, Rick asked Harry if he wanted more information on what was to come; Harry said yes, so Rick started explaining things.

"As I said before it was about six years ago on Halloween when your mother and father were murdered, you were brought to the Dursleys the next day and left on their doorstep with a note explaining why and telling them to care for you. As far as I can tell nobody ever checked up on you since that time. I couldn't get involved until you were seven years old as your magic wouldn't be strong enough. I've been keeping an eye on your situation and it was finally time to get involved. If you are willing then I will start teaching you about magic and the magical world. Once Lucy has finished unbinding your magical core and until you are 11 the only safe place you can do magic is here as the magical government doesn't like young folk doing magic unless they are at a magical school. But since there already so much magic in this house and area they can't detect if you do magic. But this all a waste of time unless you interested, so it is up to you.", Rick explained.

Harry didn't take but a second to decide and ask if Rick would teach him. Rick explained that since Harry couldn't do any magic for two weeks they would use that time to do some studying of what magic was and how it came about. Rick also told Harry that he couldn't tell anyone about magic, especially his aunt, uncle, or cousin. Rick looked at old grandfather clock and said it was time to return Harry to Privet Drive. harry didn't look too happy at that idea until Rick explained that things were going to change starting that very evening.

* * *

If you review I will be apt to post sooner. Good reviews work better than bad ones.


	2. Chapter 2 The Contract

**Before Hogwarts**

The Contract and Results

It was right at 5pm when Rick and Harry got back to Privet Drive with several bags containing new clothes for Harry and a few birthday presents, Rick had made sure Vernon would be home by this time. Rick knocked on the door and it was soon answered by Vernon and they were invited inside. As soon as they were inside Petunia asked Harry if he would help her in the kitchen for a few minutes before putting his stuff up; so the two of them went to the kitchen. Once there, Petunia told Harry that they had moved all his stuff to Dudley's second bedroom and he was to act like it had always been his room; any funny business and he would be right back under the stairs and no food for two weeks.

Rick and Vernon had sat down and were talking about the thick document Rick had left to be read. Rick explained again that all that was needed was Vernon's and Petunia's signatures and everything would be fine and that he had their check with him for the 120,000 to cover the past 6 years. Vernon wanted to increase the amount but Rick explained that it was a set amount and couldn't be changed due to the will provisions, but he could include a small amount to offset the cost of food for Harry.

When Petunia and Harry came back in Rick pointed to the last page and showed them where they had to sign. As soon as they had signed and Rick had signed as a witness, the last page duplicated itself and the original copy disappeared. Needless to say Vernon wasn't happy and started to calling Rick and Harry both freaks and saying he wouldn't allow such freakishness in his house. Rick calmly pulled his wand out and then told Vernon to be quiet.

"Now Mr. Dursley, you and your wife signed the papers which was a magical contract that stated that you knew that Harry was a wizard and you gave full control of his magical education to me. The contract also forbids you from harming Harry in any way, it even forbids your son from harming Harry. So that means that Dudley's little game of "Harry Hunting" ends today, or else Dudley pays the price dearly. This contract also insures that Harry will be fed three good meals a day and a snack before bed. Part of the magic of this contract is to strongly encourage you to report yourselves to the local child welfare office and to report all the abuse you have placed on your nephew. The contract also provides me with permission to take Harry every other weekend at a minimum and for six weeks every summer, in addition to giving me magical guardianship of Harry. Now sometime tomorrow you will receive a document that you need to fill out to allow the yearly payment to be transferred to your account and reported to the government for tax purposes. Now I had Harry tested and he doesn't have the genetic defect so that is great news; but he is severely malnourished and will need a strict diet for the next few weeks to get him up to standard weight and such. That too was part of the contract. Now Harry will need to take two potions with breakfast and one with each meal. If you try to cheat on this the food will be provided but the cost will be deducted form your moneys. I will leave some extra cash to cover the extra cost of Harry's diet. Do you have any questions about this contract? If so ask now or if some come to mind later you can inquire of me the next time I come for Harry." Rick told the Dursleys.

"Now shall we take a look at Harry's room and since it is Harry's birthday I have taken the liberty of providing a birthday cake and ice cream for after our meal. Harry why don't we take your new clothes to your room and put them away", Rick continued.

Harry and Rick headed towards the stairs and up to Harry's "new" room. The room still had most of Dudley's stuff piled in it and the bed looked like it would fall in if anything heavier than a feather was put on it. Rick called Twinkie and asked her to fix the room since elf magic wouldn't alert the ministry, or Dumbledore. Twinkie snapped her fingers and the room was empty, soon to be filled with a king size four poster bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a desk setup, and the closet turned into a private bath. Rick thanked Twinkie and told her to take the rest of the night off and enjoy herself, maybe go and visit some of her friends. Harry was just standing there with his mouth open staring at the new room. Rick explained that Twinkie had made the room larger magically and that Harry would always have plenty of hot water for his bath and that his laundry would be taken care of so Petunia couldn't "misplace" any of it.

While Harry put his new clothes away Rick sat down at the desk and used the quill and parchment to compose a letter to his connection at the wizard's bank in America asking if they had received the contract and if the accounting had been setup as requested. Rick had no more signed his name than the letter disappeared, the answer appeared just five minutes later saying all was as requested and thanked him for his business. Harry and Rick went back downstairs and let the Dursleys know that everything was satisfactory, for now. Rick cautioned Vernon and Petunia that they were forbidden to mention him or anything about Harry's magic to anyone. The Dursleys were not too happy that Rick was joining them for supper, and Dudley was even less happy when he came in to eat. It seemed that none of them were used to seeing Harry have a real meal at the same table as them; but Dudley brightened up when he saw the cake and ice cream. Dudley reached for the biggest piece only to have his hand slapped by Rick saying that was Harry's piece as it was his birthday. Rick left soon after the cake and ice cream, but said he would pick Harry up that coming weekend and reminding Harry to take his potions which should appear in his room by bedtime.

When Harry went up to his room he noticed that there were several potions sitting in boxes on the floor by the desk and there was a note on the desk addressed to him:

_Harry,_

_Here are the potions for the next few days, the rest will arrive as soon as Lucy finishes brewing them. Please use the book under this note to record everything you eat and what you do each day. What you write will be copied to a book that I have at home, this way we will know if we need to increase or adjust the nutrient potions. Also, I will be sending you some books to read at your leisure explaining some of the basics of magic and we will also start you on some simple potion brewing to cover the time until you can do magic again._

_You need to exercise daily; running, climbing trees, and such is good for you. Washing Vernon's car, weeding the flower beds, and such isn't exercise. A strong body supports a stronger magical core, plus being able to dodge spells is easier so you need to be very flexible and quick._

_Since the British magical world is stuck in the 16th or 17th century they still use quill and parchment, unlike the USA where we have kept up with the advances, you should practice using these writing implements on a daily basis. You will notice that the book is divided into two sections, the first is where you record your food and drink intake, the second is where you record your physical activity - such as "climbed three trees" or "ran for 30 minutes" or "mowed the yard" (I don't really want this one too often, Dudley and Vernon need that more than you do). But be honest with what you record as that gives me an idea as to what physical training you might need._

_The desk is magical, if you use the silver pin below to prick your finger and place that blood on the handle of the top right hand drawer then only you, and Twinkie, will be able to open any of the drawers on that side (keeps nosey people out of your secrets) also this will keep any non-magical person from seeing your books or what they contain (Dudley or Petunia cough cough). Also, and only if you ask, I can have Twinkie to fix your door so that when it is closed and locked your minders won't enter; even if the door is closed they have to be allowed entry at this time, with it locked they don't even notice the door or the room._

_Your Friend,_

_Rick_

When Harry opened the book the first page showed what he had eaten for supper, including the cake and ice cream. Harry looked at the quill and ink bottle and decided to practice using them as he wasn't used to them. He noticed some extra parchment in one of the cubbyholes above the desk marked practice supplies. But first he used the silver pin to prick his finger as Rick had told him, when he touched the handle there was a faint green glow surrounding the desk for a few seconds then it went away.

Harry had mistakenly left his door open and he heard Dudley complaining that "the freak" was in his extra bedroom and had done something to that room. Harry got up and closed the door just as Vernon climbed to the top of the stairs. When Vernon pounded on the door Harry asked what he needed. Vernon yelled that since Rick wasn't there Harry had to stay under the stairs and to open that door right now. Harry was afraid but remembering what Rick had written he decided to ignore his uncle.

"Alright boy, if you won't open this door then you can stay locked in there until the weekend", Vernon shouted. Shortly Harry heard the sound of Vernon's electric screwdriver, then Vernon complaining that the screws wouldn't even go in to the door; Harry smiled and decided to go take a bath before going to bed.

Harry had given the bathroom a brief glance earlier but on closer examination he saw that it was three times the size of the regular bathroom down the hall. The tub was huge and had a sliding glass door so if he wanted to he could take a shower. The counter had a double sink with a mirror above that stretched all the way across. There was even a stained glass mosaic on one wall showing fish and sea creatures that moved! There was a large stack of big fluffy towels and other needed items on one side of the room. Harry really enjoyed the bath and felt very relaxed once he got out.

The next morning Harry was awaken by Petunia pounding on his door and saying it was time to get up and fix breakfast and not to burn the bacon or the toast. Harry got up, got dressed, and went downstairs. Vernon was just coming down the hallway and grabbed Harry. "I've got you now boy. Now you're not in that infernal room and you are going to get what is coming to you", Vernon yelled. Just as Vernon pulled back his fist to hit Harry there appeared a red envelope that exploded and started berating Vernon that whatever he did to Harry would happen twice as hard to him "Remember the contract!" Vernon released Harry and told him to mow the yard and Harry wasn't to have anything to eat for two days. Another red envelope appeared "**Remember the contract**" it shouted at him. Harry took that opportunity to go downstairs and start breakfast.

Harry had just sat down to his breakfast of a half piece of burned toast when Twinkie softly popped in and placed a tray in front of him containing eggs, toast, bacon, sausages, milk, and juice, along with both of his potions. Vernon's face got so purple that Harry thought he was going to explode. "What do you think you doing? I told you no breakfast, now give that to Dudley and go start on the yard." Vernon yelled. Harry tried to push the tray over towards Dudley but it wouldn't move, Dudley tried to reach for some of the bacon and pulled his hand back as if he had been shocked. When Petunia tried to touch the tray she acted as if she got shocked.

"What is this unnaturalness, what did you do to your aunt and Dudley?", Vernon yelled.

Harry ate his breakfast and took his potions, boy that one still tasted like Harry thought dirty socks would taste. A piece of chocolate appeared on the tray, and as soon as Harry picked it up the tray disappeared. Harry went outside to do the yard but it didn't need cutting and the flower beds didn't need weeding either. Harry went back inside and told his uncle that the yard was fine, when Vernon went outside he couldn't believe his eyes the yard was perfect. Vernon just got in his car and left for work.

Harry took this chance to go to the park a few blocks away. Once he got there he sat in the only swing that wasn't broken and thought about what had happened that morning. He had been sitting there for a while when Twinkie softly popped into sight, this worried Harry as he wasn't sure how to explain Twinkie if someone should come up. "Master Harry not worry, I no be seen or heard except by you. Master Harry needs to exercise so he get strong soon. Twinkie come back when it time for lunch to remind Master Harry.", Twinkie said. "Twinkie, Rick said you could fix my door so nobody would bother me if I asked. Would please do that for me?", Harry asked. "Twinkie do what Master Harry ask, everything being done soon.", with that Twinkie disappeared.

Harry got up and decided to do as Rick suggested and run some. He had done about two laps around the park when Dudley and his crew showed up, this usually meant trouble for Harry. Sure enough, Dudley came up and started shoving Harry around and saying "it's Harry hunting time". That seemed to be the wrong thing to say for as soon as he said it he doubled over as if he had been hit in the stomach real hard. Now all of Dudley's "friends" backed up, they weren't used to anyone not giving in to Dudley. Harry decided this was a good time to leave and took off at a run, all the way to the small piece of wooded area close to the park. Once there he climbed up in a tree to hide from Dudley and his crew. It wasn't too long before they showed up and Harry heard one of them say something about "Harry hunting" and Dudley doubled over again. Just as Dudley stood up again one of the other boys said "Hey this Harry Hunting isn't as much fun as usual, where is he hiding this time?". Dudley doubled over again and then passed out as he couldn't get any air in to his lungs. Harry watched all this from his perch in the tree.

After the gang had left, it took several minutes for Dudley to get up, Harry climbed down and started towards the park when Twinkie reappeared and told him it was time for lunch, so Harry headed for home. Lunch wasn't much, just a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of water; until Twinkie showed up again with much more on her tray. This time the tray contained a bowl of thick stew with meat and vegetables, a glass of milk, two wheat rolls, Harry's potion, and a chunky chocolate chip cookie. After that lunch Harry felt fuller than he had ever felt. Dudley whined about his three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and his quart of syrupy sweet tea.

Harry decided to go to his room and lay down for a little while, but Petunia told him that there was a package for him in the cupboard under the stairs. When Harry went to get the package Dudley pushed Harry in the cupboard and slammed and locked the door. Just a few seconds later the door flew off it's frame and hit Dudley knocking him to the floor. Harry came out and looked at his cousin and had a small grin on his face, then he took the box upstairs to his room. When Harry got to his room he noticed that the damage Vernon had done to the wall trying to lock him in the room had been repaired and the door now had a deadbolt lock on it. On closer examination Harry couldn't see a keyhole, but when he touched the lock face the door opened freely. "Neat" was Harry's only comment as he entered and shut the door behind him.

Harry placed the box on the floor beside the desk, opened it, and started to remove several books and a sheet of plain paper with writing on it that looked like Rick's:

_Harry,_

_Here are the books I promised you. You are welcome to read any of them as you will, but I would suggest starting with the one called  **A History of Magic**, it isn't too hard to understand and if you had grown up in the USA you would have started reading it a year ago. Also, I think you might enjoy the one called **Tales of Beetle the Bard**, it is a book of magical fairy tales. Also, I have included a list of terms that you should become familiar with so you can understand some of what you hear. I'm sorry if I miss some of the British terms since I'm American; but, you can make a note of any that you need explained._

_Twinkie told me what she did, at your request, as far as the lock on the door. Just so you know, to lock the door from the outside you just touch the lock face where a key would usually be used (you unlock it the same way) and nobody will even notice that the door is there (unless they are magical)._

_Enjoy,_

_Rick_

Harry carefully placed the books above his desk in the space provided. In the bottom of the box he found several sheets of paper that had been printed instead of handwritten. He took these and **A History of Magic** with him and laid down on his bed to look them over.

* * *

**Well another chapter finished. If you want to see what Harry got for his list of terms look at the file called Terms Used. This chapter was posted before any reviews were made or received. You will find that I don't use A/Ns much as I detest authors that waste my time going on and on and on about nothing just to make their posts look longer. You'll also notice that my chapters are rather long. Once again I remind you the more reviews the better and the more incline I am to write more. If you see a need to include more terms then put them in a PM or include them in your reviews/comments. **

**I am in need of someone to beta this tale, so if you would like to offer just PM me with your email and include your qualifications. **

**After this story is finished, and if the reviews warrant it, I may continue the story and follow the books by JKR except with my own little twists.**

**Wow, this is way too long. Won't happen again, I promise.**


	3. Chapter 3 More Lessons

**Before Hogwarts**

More Lessons for the Dursleys

Harry woke up around 2pm, got up and washed his face, and put his reading material back in his bookcase above the desk and went downstairs to see what he could find to do. Aunt Petunia was nervous when she saw Harry come down the stairs and into her clean kitchen. Harry just got a glass of water and then asked if there was anything she needed for him to do to help her. This was a surprise for Petunia, but she just told him go outside but not to do anything freakish or call attention to himself.

Harry decided to just walk around the neighborhood and see if anything was going on differently than usual. As he walked past one house he saw several cats lying under some bushes and they seemed to be watching him closely. This wasn't that unusual since he knew Mrs. Figg was a cat lover and he could remember his aunt leaving him with her on occasion. Her house just smelled of cats, cookies, and litter boxes. Harry made his way back around to the park and saw a few smaller kids playing on the swings and slides; most of them were some he had seen before.

Harry saw a small boy fall out of his swing and went over to see if the boy was hurt. Harry helped the young boy to get up and asked where his mother was and offered to take the boy to her. About that time a woman came running up and asked the boy if he was hurt the boy just cried. The woman thanked Harry for trying to help and offered Harry an ice cream cone for his help. Harry declined and said thanks for the offer, he just didn't like to see people hurt.

Nothing new here, so Harry headed towards the wooded area to climb some more trees as Rick had suggested. While in the woods Harry found where someone had lost a pocket knife and picked it up and placed it in his pocket. Harry had just gotten up in a tree when he saw Dudley and his gang come into the park again, Harry decided to stay out of sight. The group of boys didn't stay around long, too many adults around who might report their bullying.

When Harry got home it was just in time for supper, if you could call a dried out piece of burned pork chop, a glass of water, and a piece of bread supper. Harry went upstairs to wash his hands and to get his potion before he sat down. Vernon just stared at him with a frown on his face. Just as he sat down the food and his plate disappeared and another tray appeared with a thick slab of roasted pork, mashed potatoes, corn, green peas, two wheat rolls, a glass of milk, and some pudding. Vernon's blood pressure went right up again seeing this "freakishness" at his table. Dudley came in and started to complain that Harry had more to eat than he did. All Dudley had was four pork chops, a big pile of mashed potatoes, and a glass of milk.

About that time an envelope appeared in front of Vernon; when he opened it, nervously, he found a bill for 40 to cover the food that Harry had eaten that day and a note saying the amount would be deducted from the money paid for Harry's care. Then to make matters worse, Petunia handed him an envelope with a return address in the States. When Vernon saw that it was the paperwork to allow direct deposit of funds for Harry's care he got all purple in the face again. Vernon started complaining that Harry was costing too much to feed and that Harry had to do without meals for the next week to make up for what he had cost that day. Dudley tried to sneak some of Harry's food and got a shock for his attempt.

When Harry had finished his supper, and potion, the tray just disappeared again. As Harry got up from the table he heard Vernon say that his sister, Marge, was coming for a visit and that Harry had best be on good behavior or else. Dudley tried to trip Harry but it didn't work, the trip just caused Dudley to be shocked again. Harry went up to his room, and again forgot to close his door.

Dudley came up a few minutes later and stopped outside the door and shouted "How did you get all that new stuff and where are all my things I had stored in there?". Harry just told him that Rick had gotten the furniture for him and had it setup. Dudley wandered off to his room and Harry closed his door and locked it. Even though it was early, Harry went ahead and got his bath and then settled down at the desk to look over some of his new books. Besides the history book and the Fairy tales, Harry found a book on basic spells, one on potions, one on plants, one on magical animals, several on wizarding manners, and one that looked a lot like some real hard math. Harry decided to look over the one on animals, he became so interested in it that when 9pm came he was still reading about the animals, especially dragons, when Twinkie popped in to remind him about his snack. Harry found that his aunt had left him a snack outside his door; wait they weren't supposed to be able to see his door if it was locked. Harry asked Twinkie about this and she told him only witches and wizards could see his door if it was locked. He would ask Rick about this next time.

The rest of the week wasn't much different, except Dudley seemed to stay away and so did the rest of the gang. Harry spent every night reading either the history or about plants, potions, and animals; there wasn't much sense in reading about spells since he couldn't do any yet. Petunia got a lot better about feeding him, so Vernon wouldn't yell so much about the cost. When Vernon did complain Petunia explained that it was cheaper to feed Harry than to pay for not feeding him. On Friday morning Harry heard a loud noise from the kitchen and when he went to see what was up he found his aunt lying on the floor with broken glass around her. Petunia was unconscious, Harry rang the emergency squad and they came and took her to the hospital. Dudley came in and started crying about his mom and when Harry tried to comfort him Dudley drew away, afraid of being shocked if he touched Harry. But that didn't happen when Harry touched him; Harry ran over to Mrs. Figg's and told her what had happened and she called Vernon.

The hospital wanted to keep Petunia overnight for observation and Vernon wasn't happy, who was going to fix supper for him and Dudley? Mrs. Figg told Vernon she would take care of preparing supper for the family. Rick showed up at the house about 5pm to pick Harry up for the weekend and was told what had happened, this could complicate things for him. Rick was introduced to Mrs. Figg and he saw she was a squib and that she was a spy for Dumbledore, he had no choice but to alter her memory so she couldn't report this to Dumbledore. Rick and Harry left before supper to return to Rick's house.

After a rather nice supper served by Twinkie; Rick, Harry, and Lucy sat in the parlor and discussed what had happened the past week to Harry and answered most of Harry's questions; all except how Petunia had been able to see Harry's door with it locked. Lucy suggested that Rick cast a special spell on Petunia the next time he had the chance, but to wait until she was in better health first. Lucy took the opportunity to check Harry's magic and was surprised to see it was stronger than expected at this stage. Harry was in bed by 10pm and asleep by 1015pm. Rick and Lucy discussed what they thought Harry should study the next couple of days and it was decided that Lucy would instruct Harry in potions and manners while Rick would focus on history, physical fitness, and basic spell work.

Twinkie woke Harry and had him at the table by 7am for breakfast and his two potions. Harry was still adjusting to the large meals he was expected to eat, but enjoying them all the same. Today's breakfast included oatmeal, eggs, ham, toast, juice, and milk; Harry discovered that if he mixed the bad-tasting potion in his juice it was not too bad, the nutrition potion was okay by itself. After breakfast Harry was introduced to exercise regiment that he could use when the weather got too bad to go outside and run or such. Next was Ti Chi to both provide self defense and to promote mental stability (which would later help him learn to occlude his mind).

Harry had a one hour break then Lucy started teaching him about the manners and procedures used by the upper class of wizards, pure bloods, so he would fit into that culture better. After a large lunch, and a one hour nap, Rick instructed Harry on the history of magic, followed by an hour of theory of spell work. Harry was given another break and then it was time for Lucy and potions (which would include some basic herbology). This turned out to be Harry's favorite part of the day since it was so much like cooking which Harry liked anyway. Harry even brewed a very basic potion, with Lucy's help, that turned out perfect, so if he ever had trouble with boils he knew how to treat them.

After supper they discussed the day and then Harry learned some wizard games such as exploding snap, gob stones, and wizard's chess. The next day was much the same except after supper Rick took Harry home. Petunia was home from the hospital and even thanked Harry for calling for help, Vernon tried to blame Harry but Petunia took up for him, this caused Harry, and Rick, to be very surprised. Harry made a quick check of his room but found that it was still locked and showed no signs of being disturbed.

Monday started out the same as the previous week, until Vernon came home with his sister in tow. Aunt Marge, and her dog Ripper, were back for a visit and would be staying for two weeks. As soon as Marge entered the house she started belittling Harry, and Ripper started trying to chew on Harry's leg. Things only got worse at supper when Petunia served Harry at the same table and gave him more than Marge thought he deserved. Petunia explained that Child Welfare was checking up on them and if Harry didn't start gaining weight they could end up in jail, then Marge might have to raise Dudley. Marge got quiet after that. Aunt Petunia's actions were starting to confuse Harry, she had never taken up for him before.

The next morning Harry was downstairs and starting breakfast when Ripper came and once again acted like Harry was a chew toy. Twinkie happened to pop in and saw this and sent Ripper running. It wasn't long before Marge was downstairs and getting ready to assault Harry, Twinkie once again took care of the problem then promptly left to inform her master what was going on at the Dursleys. Around noon Rick showed up and asked to speak with Harry, Marge had to open her mouth and Rick pulled an ID out showing he was with Children Services. When Ripper started to pull at Rick's pants leg Rick said the dog was a menace and needed to be put down if Marge couldn't control him. Rick then offered to have Marge arrested for endangering two children, Harry and Dudley. Marge became very irate and even more so when Rick pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

"I warned the Dursleys that we would be keeping an eye on this household and it seems that they didn't pay attention, Mrs. Dursley that will cost you 100 in fines for allowing this dangerous animal around a child. Also I will be sending animal control around to pick up this animal", then looking at Marge, "And I assume you have the required documents showing that this animal has had all of his shots; if not then the animal must be destroyed. I would like to see those documents now please", Rick concluded.

Marge was able to produce the required paperwork, much to Rick's dissatisfaction. But he did warn her that Ripper should be better controlled or paperwork or not the animal would be removed and she would be fined severely. When Harry came in for lunch, Rick quickly motioned for him to be quiet. Ripper immediately charged in and began to worry Harry's ankles. "That is it, the dog will have to be removed from this household or at least confined to a cage and not allowed within 10 feet of any child under the age of 16. Also when out of his cage he is to be on a leash", Rick said as he booted the dog away from Harry. After examining Harry's legs, Rick tuned to Marge and asked for her full name and address for his report. When Marge was hesitant Rick told her she could give the information now or down at the police station, she gave him the requested information. Rick stayed just long enough to see that Harry got a good lunch then left saying he would return as he felt was needful.

Harry knew that it wasn't going to be very nice around the house when his uncle got home. Vernon was outraged when he heard what had happened to his sister and was going to take it out on Harry when he saw him. Vernon's anger got even worse when he saw an animal control vehicle drive up, the officer came up to his door and asked if they had seen any stray dogs running around as the office had received several calls from this neighborhood. By the time Harry returned for supper Petunia had calmed Vernon down, and Dudley didn't seemed too upset that Ripper wasn't chewing on him either. Supper was very quiet, except for the noise Ripper made from upstairs because he was locked in Marge's room. After supper Harry went to his room and made sure to lock the door before getting his bath.

Harry was reading when Twinkie popped in with a note from Rick telling Harry that everything would be okay and not to worry about Marge or her dog. Rick explained what had happened before Harry came in for lunch and Harry had a good laugh and wished he could have seen that. Rick reminded Harry to continue his Ti Chi every morning and to study the books he had been given, but most of all "BE A KID".

It was raining the next morning when Harry got up so he knew he was trapped inside until it quit. Harry was finished with breakfast before Marge even came downstairs, so he went back to his room to read and to do his exercises. It rained all day, but Harry enjoyed the time reading his books and wondering how it would feel to do magic. As it turned out Marge left after only one week, "Ripper is unhappy" was her excuse for leaving early. Harry took his last bad-tasting potion (he hoped) the morning just before Rick came to pick him up again two weeks later.

When Harry and Rick got to Rick's house Lucy did the diagnostic spell again and found it was time for her to finish removing all of the blocks on Harry's magical core. The four of them, Harry, Lucy, Rick, and Twinkie, went to a room that was warded strongly to prevent spells escaping and to contain magic. Twinkie added her own magic to the wards to strengthen them before Lucy started removing the final bindings. Once the final binding was removed there was a large discharge of magic from Harry that almost took down the wards. When Lucy checked Harry's magical level it was at 45, with 50 being the normal for an adult, as compared to Rick's score of 75. "Harry you are one strong wizard, I would have expected you to score around 20 to 25 max at your age. Rick you had best put up newer and stronger wards before Harry reaches his majority or else your house might not survive." Lucy said with a smile. Lucy then told Harry he would still need to take the nutrient potion for a while longer, Harry said he didn't mind that one.

At the Ministry of Magic an underage magic alarm went off registering a moderate accidental magic burst. In the headmaster's office at Hogwarts a silver item spun very rapidly for a few seconds then slowed back down; neither incident was noticed as the headmaster wasn't in and the person on monitor duty at the MOM was in the restroom. In a hidden mansion not too far away, a single gem glowed bright red for a few seconds and then dimmed a little, this was noticed by a passing elf who ran to tell the head elf, Gustus, who was the majordomo for The Ancient and Noble House of Potter.

Harry asked Lucy since they were already in the dungeon could they do his potions training now. Lucy didn't have a problem with that, and Rick was busy checking the wards after Harry's magical discharge, they weren't in the best of shape either. Twinkie went to start on lunch, while Lucy and Harry went into the potions lab. Lucy told Harry to copy the potion ingredients she wrote on the board down and then to gather them from the storage cabinet and the two of them would prepare them and brew a very special potion. It took Harry almost an hour to copy and gather the ingredients listed, the potion was that complicated, while Lucy was reading a very old book and making notes. Once Harry had everything gathered he informed Lucy and she checked each one to make sure it was correct and fresh, as she told him if some of the ingredients weren't fresh or correct the potion could explode. Lucy found that two of the ingredients were too old to use and she would have to go get some fresh ones, but this wasn't Harry's fault as these two weren't used that often in basic potions. Lucy told Harry that he had done well and they would have to wait until after lunch to continue; she suggested they review his public manners and actions.

The two of them spent the next hour reviewing and having Harry practice some of the things and saying some of the phrases he would need in the future. When they went upstairs to lunch Lucy asked Twinkie if she would fetch a few potion ingredients from the apothecary for her while them ate. Twinkie was more than happy to take care of that task, so Lucy gave her a list and some money; but Twinkie said she wasn't allowed to have wizard money especially American money in London. Rick just told Twinkie to charge it to his account and they would take care of it later.

After lunch and after Twinkie returned saying she'd had a hard time getting fresh ingredients, Lucy and Harry returned to the lab to prepare the ingredients and start the potion which would have to brew for 24 hours and have special stirrings done before it would be ready. Once the potion had been started Harry went with Rick to work on some very basic spells and wand techniques, Lucy didn't want Harry doing any real magic until the next day so his newly unbound core could stabilize. So even though he couldn't use an actual wand he got to practice "swish and flick" and a few other movements with a practice wand, i.e. a plain piece of wood that looked like a wand but no core.

The next morning Lucy, who looked really tired, asked if might be possible to keep Harry one more night as he needed to have one more potion and she needed to be able to observe the results, but the potion wouldn't be ready until around suppertime. Rick didn't see as this was a problem, but he needed to let the Dursleys know just in case. Since he was from America, Rick had a cell phone that would work around magic if it wasn't too strong. Rick went outside, away from Harry, and called Petunia to let her know that Harry wouldn't be home until Monday around lunch. Harry's day went pretty much as usual until supper when Lucy, who had taken time for a long nap, gave him the potion they had started yesterday. Lucy explained that this would help stabilize his core quicker and act as a "battery charger" for his core overnight. Harry had one question, "Do all magical potions have to taste bad? The vitamin potion is okay, but the rest taste awful!". Lucy and Rick just laughed and said as far as they knew most potions tasted bad, maybe it was the way they were made and the ingredients.

The next morning before breakfast even, Lucy did another measurement of Harry's core and this time the score was 48. Lucy repeated the test and got the same result twice in a row. "Harry are you sure you are only seven years old? At this rate you are going to blow the scale to pieces when you turn 17. As I said the other day you are one strong wizard and I can't wait to see you try an actual spell even a basic household spell that most kids raised in the magical world know at your age.", Lucy commented as they went to breakfast. After eating the three of them went down to the special room again so Harry could try his first spell.

"Now Harry this spell is called 'repairo' it is used to fix simple things, for example to fix your glasses you would say 'oculus repairo' and point your wand at the glasses. Now what I want you to try is point your wand at a broken glass and just say 'repairo' while thinking you want the glass to be whole again.", Rick instructed Harry. Rick tossed a glass on the hard stone floor and of course it broke. Harry took his wand out, pointed it at the mess of glass and said "repairo" quietly and nothing happened. He did it again a little louder and with more force of voice and the glass snapped back together in a split second and glowed. When Harry looked he saw Rick shaking his head and staring at the glass, while Lucy was staring at the glass with her mouth open.

"Harry that was amazing; not only did you put the glass back together but you made it twice as strong too. The first time you just didn't have enough force in your voice, you sounded hesitant; but the second time it was perfect and I guess Lucy was right, YOU are a STRONG wizard! I want you to try something else for me if you feel like it", Rick said. Harry nodded as if to say he felt fine.

Rick conjured an egg and dropped it then ask Harry to try the repair spell again on the egg. The result was a perfect egg that showed no signs of having been broken and when Rick cracked it into the glass it looked fine. As they studied the shell they could find nothing to indicate it had ever been broken except right then. When Lucy dropped the glass by mistake it bounced instead of breaking. Rick said it was time for Ti Chi, but they were going outside this time as Harry needed fresh air.

Lucy joined then for the first time and all three went through the basic movements, or Kata as it is called in martial arts terminology, then Lucy asked Harry how he felt after complete the forms. Harry said he usually felt relaxed and calm now that he was used to it. Rick explained that was the goal of the forms, to relax and center yourself. He said it was time for Harry to learn how to center himself via meditation and had Harry sit down, close his eyes and take several slow deep breaths.

"As you exhale imagine blowing all the tension out of yourself with very little effort. Slowly take in a deep breath, hold it for a second or two then let it out slowly feeling any tension in your body flowing out with your breath. If this is done correctly you will feel almost the same as after the Ti Chi forms.", Rick explained. "Try to clear your mind, by that I mean to push everything out of the way so you aren't thinking about anything. Just feeling very peaceful and relaxed. When you can do that let me know. I don't expect you to accomplish that today but maybe have a handle on it by the next time you come over. But there is no rush, just try to meditate every night before you go to sleep and get yourself relaxed.", Rick continued.

When Harry opened his eyes again he said he felt like he had just woke up he was so relaxed. Harry was sitting there and practicing some of his wand movements when suddenly Lucy just floated off the ground and had a very surprised look on her face. "Harry, let me down, but do it gently so I don't fall." "Harry, keep your wand pointed at Lucy and think about her slowly settling to the ground", Rick whispered in Harry's ear. Lucy slowly settled to the ground then Harry moved his wand away and tried to apologize to her but she was having nothing doing. Instead she was happy, "Harry, that was amazing, I didn't even hear you say anything. Did you say the spell or just think it?", Lucy asked. Harry said he was thinking the spell and practicing the wand movement. "Harry, that is called silent magic; and it takes a lot of strength and concentration usually. The fact you did it without much effort says a lot about your magical strength. But, until I can get some more wards up on Privet Drive I ask that you not take your wand home with you yet. But I want you to practice with the plain wand at least an hour a day until you have as many wand movements down as you think you can handle or understand just from reading the books I gave you.", Rick said.

Harry just nodded and was staring at Lucy and Rick. "Rick, why is your aura so bright; it is brighter than the other day, so is Lucy's.", Harry asked. "You can see our auras? And you haven't taken the aura potion either have you?", Lucy asked; then she cast the aura spell on Harry. "Harry, how do you feel right now? Are you dizzy or anything?", Lucy continued.

"I feel fine, just that the glow around you both is so much clearer today than the other day. When I look at myself the colors are brighter and clearer, there are no bands just a bright gold glow surrounded by bright red", Harry answered. Which was what Lucy was seeing around Harry as well, except for the black area above his scar. As she started to say something Rick motioned for her to be quiet and mouthed "later". Twinkie popped in and said that lunch was ready and when Harry looked he saw a grayish mist around her. When Harry mentioned this both Rick and Lucy stared first at him then Twinkie, but they saw no "grayish mist" around Twinkie.

After lunch Rick, and Lucy this time, took Harry shopping for school supplies since it was that time of the year. They did most of their shopping at a small shopping center close-by, but Lucy said the next time they were going to a large mall in London and take in a movie also. From the shopping center they went to Privet Dr. to take Harry back to the Dursleys, Lucy wanted a word with Petunia, woman to woman so to speak. As they drove past the park near Harry's home they saw Dudley and his gang being questioned by the police, so Rick stopped and asked if he could be of help as he was a barrister and knew one of the boys. It turned out the boys were suspected of shoplifting a few hour earlier, Rick lied and said that at the time Dudley was with him and couldn't have been involved and that he would take Dudley home - if that was okay with the officers.

As soon as they were in the car Dudley asked "What about my friends, they don't have anyone to stand up for them?". To which Rick replied that Dudley's friends were on their own and that he was just helping Harry's "family" out, but he could always take Dudley back and tell the police he had been mistaken about the time. Dudley had a change of heart about his friends.

When the four of them got to #4 Privet Dr. Vernon was upset that Dudley was riding with the "freaks". Rick suggested that Dudley, Vernon, and himself have a little talk; Lucy said she wanted to speak with Petunia anyway about Harry's school. Lucy convinced Petunia for the two of them to have a cup of tea in the kitchen while the "men folk" had their talk and Harry put his supplies up in his room.

As soon as the two women were alone in the kitchen Lucy puller out her wand and cast a spell on Petunia to confirm her suspicions. The spell revealed that Petunia had a little magic, her score was a 2 as compared to Harry's 48. "Mrs. Dudsley, did you know you had a small bit of magic in you? I suspected as much when Harry told us you seemed able to see his door when nobody without magic couldn't. I know how you feel about magic, or 'freakishness' as your husband calls it, but thought you should be told. I don't want to alarm you and of course this is between you and me; I won't mention it to anyone unless you say it is okay, not even Rick or Harry. I know you have some knowledge about the magical world from your sister, Lily, but I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.", Lucy explained.

Petunia just sat there for a few seconds with her mouth open, then said "If I had magic then I could have gone to school with Lily, but they said I didn't have any. Why are you saying I have magic when I don't"? Lucy explained that the little bit of magic she had detected was too small to be noticed unless a special spell was cast to detect it. Just about everyone had a small bit of magic in them, it is called life. But Lily, and Harry, had more than most people so it showed easier to those who looked and knew about it. The two women talked about Harry's school and such for a few minutes more then joined the men in the living room.

Meanwhile in the living room Rick was explaining that he had done Dudley a favor in that if he hadn't stopped Dudley would have either ended up at the police station or would have been brought home by the police. "Now that would really cause your neighbors to talk, wouldn't it?", Rick added. Rick explained that he really didn't like Vernon or Dudley due to the way they had treated Harry. But, he would help Harry anyway he could and Harry had seemed stressed to see Dudley in that much trouble.

By the time Harry came back downstairs and the women had come into the living room, Vernon's face had lost some of the purple coloring and his blood pressure had decreased some. Dudley ended up being grounded for a week and Petunia actually thanked Harry, Lucy, and Rick for saving Dudley. Just before Rick and Lucy left, Rick made it a point to tell Harry to remember to practice what he had been taught.

* * *

**Well, there you have chapter 3. Please push the green button below and tell me what you think, good, bad, or indifferent.**


	4. Chapter 4 Public School

**Before Hogwarts**

**School**

School started the next week and Harry noticed that Dudley and crew didn't pester him as much. Vernon's attitude didn't change and he was still treating Harry the same as always, mostly. But Petunia's attitude did show some change, slowly; she always had a snack ready for both boys after school, where last year only Dudley got one. Also, Harry had a decent breakfast before going to school now, and supper was much better - even if Vernon still gripped about feeding "the freak" decent food. Harry had not gone back to visit Rick until after the third week of school, and Rick explained that Harry needed to get into his school habits for the time being.

The first time Harry went to stay with Rick and Lucy they both asked about his school work and offered to explain anything Harry was having problems understanding. Only after schoolwork was dealt with would they instruct him in magical subjects. when Harry asked about this they explained that he needed a good basic education to be a well rounded person, and that the more he knew about the world in general the better off he would be in the future. Both adults stressed math, language skills, penmanship (strongly), and science as these related to both the mundane and the magical worlds (Rick and Lucy preferred the American reference to non-magical persons).

As far as magical education went it was physical fitness and defense, manners and procedures, potions, and then spell work and wand techniques. Harry was introduced to more of the martial arts as a way of becoming fit and being able to defend himself in the world he lived in. Some of the manners carried over to the mundane world as well. But potions, spell, and wand work well only useful in the magical world for the time being. Harry enjoyed the martial arts, potions, and spell and wand work more than the lessons in manners, and he really disliked the penmanship drills Lucy had him doing with pencil/pen and paper, and quill and parchment. But his teachers at school were starting to notice the improvement and complementing him on his penmanship.

On the weekends he went to stay at Rick's a routine developed in that on Fridays either Rick or Lucy were waiting for him when he got home, usually Lucy. They would leave Privet Dr. and go to Rick's house, sometimes they used a car and sometimes they just "popped" away. After arriving one or the other would help Harry with his homework or explain anything Harry was having trouble with. The next day would start with physical fitness and martial arts, then breakfast, then two to three hours of basic education, then a 30 minute break and then start on some of the magical training until lunch. After lunch it was back to magical training, usually potions as that took the most time. After another break and a snack, it was either spell or wand work until supper. After supper it was time to relax, watch a movie, read for pleasure, play games, or maybe go out for a movie.

Harry was surprised when he went to visit Rick the last weekend in November, they didn't follow the usual routine. Rick explained that in the US it was a holiday called Thanksgiving and as it was a national holiday nobody worked, except emergency services and such that never closed. So it was to be weekend of fun with very little work. It fact, the only real work Harry would have to do was his school work, and learn how to fly a broom. When Rick told Harry this he needed sunglasses since Harry's smile was so bright. Friday night was spent doing all of Harry's schoolwork to get it out of the way. Saturday started out the same as usual with physical training and Ti Chi. After breakfast it was time to go outside and learn how to use a broom. Rick had Harry stand by a broom, hold his right hand out and say "UP" with authority. The broom jumped to Harry's hand instantly, Rick and Lucy were both amazed as neither of them had had that happen to them when they learned about brooms. Rick showed Harry how to mount and sit his broom so it would hover. Harry had no problem with this and when Rick told him to kick off Harry's broom took to the sky with Rick and Lucy right behind him scared he would panic and fall off. Both were surprised when Harry acted as if he had been flying for years and showed no signs of panic or fear. "It has to be his father's genes", Rick was heard to say several times that weekend. Lucy took several calming potions that weekend.

Christmas was not like any other Christmas Harry could remember, he got presents! And he was to stay with Rick for two weeks since school was out. One thing that happened was that Rick and Lucy took Harry to America and took him shopping for his very first personal wand that was a match for him and not just one he could use. Harry ended up with a wand made of Redwood with a core of Unicorn hair and an Eagle feather, a very unusual dual core wand. The wand maker suggested that Harry might benefit from a staff, when he got older and more settled with his magic, as he seemed to have a very strong magical core judging by the core items that reacted to him, those two in his wand were just the strongest that reacted at this time. Lucy got Harry his first potion kit, junior level of course. And Harry was introduced to Disney World at Orlando, both the mundane and the magical side.

While they were in the US Rick took Harry to a magical ophthalmologist and had Harry examined and fitted for contacts, he was also given several potions to correct and strengthen his vision so that maybe he wouldn't have to wear glasses or contacts for much longer. They would have to order refills from the US as the doctor wasn't sure that the potions were available in England. Part of Harry's vision was genetic, but part seemed to be caused by trauma. This information, the trauma, was not taken well by Rick or Lucy as they suspected Vernon mostly. This lead to a full medical exam by a pediatric healer and more trauma related injuries were found, but most were semi-easy to correct and the healer said that the potions Lucy had been using were the correct, he just wanted add another to be taken for the next month. The only problem they had was when the healer checked Harry's magic and saw the high value, in fact he repeated the tests three times before he would believe the results. Like Lucy he predicted that Harry would be a very powerful wizard; Harry's score had risen to a 55, more than twice what was normal for his age and development.

They took Harry to his first Quidditch match, which he enjoyed very much. After the match Harry got to meet some of the players and even got invited to come to a practice session, Rick and Lucy couldn't resist Harry's "puppy dog eyes" so Harry got to go to the practice. After the practice one of the players asked Harry if he knew how to fly and offered to give him some tips when Harry said he loved to fly. Unfortunately the player was the keeper and he soon realized that Harry needed to be helped by the team seeker. When the seeker, who was arrogant and pompous, saw Harry fly he didn't believe Harry was only 7 1/2 years old and spent three hours showing Harry different seeker moves and techniques, much to Lucy's distress as Harry was doing stunts that even Rick wouldn't think of trying on a broom. It seemed that the coach was watching, as were the rest of the team, and Harry ended up playing his first practice game and caught the snitch! The coach said that if Harry wanted to play for him when he got older just come on by and he had a place on any team the coach had.

By the time the trio returned to the London area, Harry was ready to move to America and live just so he could fly and use magic more. It was with a sad day when Harry returned to Privet Dr. as he had to do without being able to fly or use magic except for the weekends at Rick's. Harry had even brought Dudley back a souvenir from America, a new video game that was all the rage there called Zelda. Harry brought Petunia a few potted plants that he thought she would enjoy. For Vernon, Harry - with Rick's help - bought several new ties. The Dursleys had not gotten Harry anything since he had been living with them, Petunia felt very bad after getting the plants from Harry. Dudley even asked Harry how to play his game and for tips.

Now it was time to go back to school and Harry was looking forward to it as he intended to tell his class about his trip to the US, leaving out the magic part of course. Rick and Lucy had taken plenty of pictures, both mundane and magical, so Harry had proof to show his classmates. Harry was one of the most popular students in his age group for a week or two. Harry's teachers were happy to see Harry's grades were at the top of the year, in fact he was performing at an advanced level and was ahead of the rest of the class. Harry's school reports were such that Vernon got mad because Harry was out performing Dudley both academically and in deportment. It took another visit from Rick to settle Vernon down, or was it because Vernon was transfigured into a walrus for a few hours to get his attention.

Easter was the next major holiday and Harry had a ball, he spent ever chance he had flying. Rick and Lucy were proud of Harry's grades and the fact he was doing so well in his magical studies also. Harry was performing just about all of the first year spells, some were more difficult for him just because he was so young but he could do most of them. His potion skills were on par for a first year student and he had even attempted a few second year potions, with close supervision by Lucy.

School was out and Harry had received an award due to his scores on the end of year tests, he was first in his year! There was only one other student in the system citywide that beat him, a girl in London named Hermione Granger. Harry was looking forward to his summer with Rick. It was the week after school let out before he went to Rick's, but Petunia asked that he come back for an hour or two on his birthday and to bring Lucy. It seems that Petunia and Lucy had developed a friendship, even if Vernon didn't know about it.

* * *

**Sorry this was so short, but it did cover quiet a lot of ground and time. As Harry gets older there will be excitement and adventures, maybe even a few more problems for someone named Vernon. Comments and suggestions are welcome and encouraged, so click the green button and tell me what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5 Back in Time

**Before Hogwarts**

Back in Time

"Rick, do you think Harry is ready to learn the truth, about us I mean? After all he is almost eight years old and has only known about the magical world for a year. Do you think he will understand if we told him where we really came from and why we waited until he was seven to 'rescue him'? ", Lucy asked one night as they sat in front of the fireplace enjoying some wine and cheese.

"I'm not sure if Harry is old enough to understand all of it. I mean we have known about Harry since an hour after his parents were murdered. It took us this long to find him because of Dumbledore's poor attempt at a Fidelius charm and blood wards. I told James that the Fidelius charm at Godric's Hollow was faulty and poorly done, but he and Lily trusted Dumbledore with their lives and lost. As far as I'm concerned the things James and Lily did right were moving money to the states, allowing me to put that charm on them to monitor their health at great distances, and naming Sirius, Remus, and myself as guardians outside of their will. I still, after over eight years, can't believe they made that rat their secret keeper. I could have told them that Remus wasn't the spy, but I didn't think Peter was capable of that kind of deceitfulness.", Rick replied.

"We haven't even told Harry we knew his parents and I think we should at least tell him that and show him some of the pictures we have of them. He doesn't even know how they looked since Petunia didn't keep any pictures of Lily after she married that lump of lard, Vernon. I swear when you turned him into a walrus he looked better than usual; he still smelled bad, but looked more natural that way. If Dudley doesn't straighten out I'm going to turn him into a pig all the way. I've learned a bit from Petunia, even if she looks like a horse at times, and she is starting to come around and take better care of Harry at least", Lucy continued.

After a few minutes of silence Lucy asked, "How did you meet James and Lily in the first place? You never said and I never asked before. I know you didn't meet at school as you were educated in the US and went directly from school to the service."

"That is an interesting tale in and of itself. I can't tell all of it as I'm still under oath not to reveal some things.", Rick replied.

**_Flashback to February 1979_**

_It was cold and foggy when Captain Richard "Rick" Green got off the plane at Heathrow. "Why can't the British keep their problems on their side of the ocean?" he thought. Rick was here in merry old England because some idiot wizard named Voldemort, what kind of name is that, sent some of his "Death Eaters" to the US to attack and rob the magical library in Salem. They didn't even know how to handle a simple mundane alarm system, much less how to take down the wards. Hell, even I wouldn't want to attempt to disrupt those wards, one wrong move and you're nothing but a blood smear on the grass. Now I have to bring their remains back so they can hopefully be identified. I wonder who I made mad this time to get this assignment?_

_Rick was met by a very strangely dressed man holding a sign saying "Richard Green, USA" above his head and waving it around like an idiot. "What is with these people, men wearing fuzzy women's slippers and an old suit that went out of date thirty years ago?", Rick thought as he approached the man. "I'm Richard Green, I assume you are my escort to the Ministry."_

_"Don't say that so loud, secrecy you know. We don't broadcast things like that around here", was the whispered reply. The man lead Rick to a waiting car and they headed to their destination, after Rick picked up his bag from the baggage area. Wouldn't want someone asking why a man was carrying several pieces of wood in a plastic bag with his clothes. Rick was surprised when they got out of the car and the man pushed both of them into a phone booth; he was even more surprised when the booth turned out to be an elevator that sank down below street level._

_Rick was handed a badge that said "Richard Greene, DMLE Interrogation". As soon as they got off the weird elevator they stopped at a desk where his escort handed his wand to the guy behind the desk to be weighed, then the guy asked for Rick's wand and weighed it. Rick was lead to another elevator and they went down 10 floors stopping on each floor for papers and people to get on and off._

_"Here is your visitor Potter, you might want to explain the Secrecy Act to him. He was talking about the Ministry in front of muggles at the areopain place.", Rick's escort said as they approached another man with unkempt hair that was sticking out all over the place._

_"Hello Captain Green, I'm James Potter and I'm to be your contact with the Ministry of Magic while you are here. I hope you will overlook Booth he is of the old school and doesn't deal with people very well.", the man said as he held out his hand. Rick shook hands with the man and said, "Just call me Rick, that Captain Green stuff is too formal for my tastes". "Fine then you should call me James. I understand some of our bad boys made it all the way to the states and caused a little bit of a problem. I hope none of your friends were hurt by them, they can be right nasty at times.", James replied._

_"Nope, we only had one injury; a new man forgot to duck and we had to reattach his ear. But it seems that all of the 'bad boys' as you called them were unprepared to face battle hardened troops. Most of them died rather quickly, my guys don't play when someone fires a curse or hex at them, especially a harmful one. They have a tendency to give better than they receive. We did manage to capture two of them and after a little persuasion they talked our ears off about some 'dark lord' called Voldemort. No offense, but we wish you would keep your problems over here, Grindelwald was enough of a problem with him trying to help Hitler and such. What ever happened to him any way, we would have liked to have had a few words with him. Oh, by the way my last name doesn't have an 'e' on the end of it.", Rick said with a smile._

_"I assume that the two who survived will be in prison for a long time, at least I hope so. You might want to avoid saying that name around here people get upset about that. As to Grindelwald, he is in the magical side of Nuremburg Prison under Dementor guard.", James replied._

_"You still use those things? Man, England must be the only country in the world that would allow those things to survive. We got rid of them ages ago, oh there are still two or three locked up in a research lab somewhere I guess. Any way why don't we get the dirty work over with and then go have a beer or something. My flight was a dry one, I still don't understand why you folks wouldn't allow an international portkey.", Rick said._

_The two men went to an office and Rick puller out the plastic bag of wood strips and gave them to James. When James went to transfigure them Rick told him that six of the eight were just piles of goop and fingers. He showed James which two were whole bodies and James turned them back into human form. It didn't take James long to identify those two, the others would have to be studied very closely to identify them._

_"You said you captured two so the total was ten death eaters?", James asked._

_"Nope just eight, those two died when they tried to assault our healer and I put them down like the rabid dogs they were, which was probably more humane than what Lucy was going to do to them. She has this thing for cutting curses and male genitalia, and she doesn't always need her wand for that one either.", Rick said as he shivered a little._

_James took Rick out for a few drinks and the two of them exchanged "war stories". James ended up inviting Rick to supper so Rick could meet Lily, who was pregnant and at home. James, Lily, and Rick hit it off real quick and were having a good laugh when a man just walked into the kitchen only to have a wand stuck to his head by Rick before anyone could say a word. The man turned out to be Sirius Black, one of James' best friends. A little while later two more friends showed up, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Rick soon found out that James, Sirius, Peter were animagi and Remus was a werewolf. This didn't bother Rick as werewolves weren't considered "dark creatures" in the states as long as they stayed away from people during a full moon, and Tick already knew a few animagi that worked with him on occasion._

_Rick could only stay a few days then he had to go back to the states, but he and James agreed to keep in touch - and Lily would make sure of it. Rick returned about two months after James' son, Harry, was born and the Potters were already under the Fidelius charm. Since Rick's specialty was warding, and the breaking there of, he examined the wards around the Godric's Hollow house and found that the Fidelius wasn't cast exactly right and told James. After a long talk with James and Lily, where Rick found out why the Fidelius was cast, Rick got them to agree to transfer a nice sum of money to an account in the states for emergencies and as a source of money for Harry later. It was Lily's idea to name Sirius, Remus, and Rick as guardians of Harry should anything happen to either James or Lily. This was most likely because Lucy had come to visit with Rick to see the baby._

_The four kept in touch with each other via the mail and an occasional international owl. It was a little over a year later when Rick was awaken form a nap by the health alert spell he had cast on James, Lily, and Harry. The spell indicated that James was dead and so was Lily. Harry's was okay for about 10 minutes then it just went away, the spell didn't show Harry as dead but it no longer functioned. Harry was either inside a very strong ward or someone had placed a Fidelius charm directly on him. It was hard to tell due to the distance from the US to England, plus Rick was well aware of the problems the English were having._

_Rick called Lucy and the two of them took emergency leave and went to see about Harry, and his parents. It took a while but they finally learned that Sirius had been arrested and sent to prison, Remus was missing, and supposedly Peter was dead by Sirius' hand. They found out that Dumbledore had assumed magical custody of Harry and had hidden him somewhere "safe", but nobody knew where. The ministry of Magic refused to even look at the document Rick had and that James and Lily had signed. Since Sirius was in prison and Remus missing, that left Rick responsible for the bank account until Harry showed up and turned 17, in England, or turned 18 (under US law)._

**_End Flashback_**

"Well if it hadn't been for Dumbledore's poor blood wards failing we would have never found Harry until he showed up at Hogwarts at the age of eleven. It took a while for the spell to build up enough energy to notify me that Harry was alive and well and for us to tract him down. I'm just glad James had told us that prophecy all those years ago. So I think it might be time to tell Harry we knew his parents, but let him know not to tell anyone else yet, especially the Dursleys.", Rick said.

"I agree Rick, but how did the account grow so large? If I remember correctly it started out at about $2,000,000 after exchanging it from gallons to dollars.", Lucy asked.

"Well, I kind of cheated. I have been putting money in the account since Harry disappeared, plus the bank invested very well and got a real good return. But, Vernon isn't getting as much as he thinks. Every little item we buy Harry that he should have already had is deducted from Vernon's money. Plus, when it is reported to the government for tax purposes the value is inflated a little bit, say three to four times as much as it really is. Also, I charged Vernon for half of our Christmas trip and expenses.", Rick replied doing all he could to keep from laughing right out loud.

Lucy didn't even try to keep from laughing loudly and ended up rolling on the floor trying to get her breath back. Rick wasn't in much better shape between laughing at Lucy and about the prank he had pulled on Vernon. "Well dear sister, I think we should get some rest. We get Harry tomorrow for two weeks and I have a feeling we are going to need all the rest we can get. You do remember how much energy an eight year old has don't you?", Rick said as he helped Lucy up from the floor. The two said goodnight to Twinkie and went to their rooms.

* * *

**Well now you know some of the history of Rick and Lucy and how they came to care about Harry. We also learned that Rick might have made a good Marauder. Please click the green button below and tell me what you think. Also, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you remember from the books or films. If I did own them I wouldn't be broke all the time and this wouldn't be FANFICTION.**


	6. Chapter 6 Summer 1 age 8

**A/N **It seems that I didn't read what I have been writing, but thanks to Elfwyn pointing it out I will have the chance to correct my mistake. At this stage of the story there isn't any need for Harry to stay with his aunt and uncle to power the wards, so Harry will be leaving within the first week of summer break to stay with Rick instead of waiting until his birthday.

**Disclaimer: Nope still don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

**Before Hogwarts**

**Summer (age 8)**

Today was the last day of school for Harry, tomorrow started his summer holiday. Harry was looking forward to being able to fly and do magic and potions. But he still had to suffer through this day, they weren't really doing much in class just helping the teacher get everything put away. After lunch there was to be some sort of special assembly for all the students, Harry wondered what that was about.

Harry got home from school and had to show Aunt Petunia the certificate he received for having the highest scores in his year, and second highest in all of London. He had just shown Petunia his certificate when the phone rang, it was Lucy and she said that they would pick Harry up the following weekend for the summer. Petunia was so surprised about Harry's certificate she even hung it on the wall.

That evening when Vernon came home, he saw the certificate and got upset, "Boy, what kind of freakishness is this; you know your not allowed to do better than Dudley. You must have cheated some way, well this can't stay up here since you obviously didn't earn it". Vernon went to take the certificate down but it couldn't be removed, in fact he couldn't even touch it. Now Vernon was even more upset, he said if it wouldn't come down then he would just out something over that spot to cover it up. That didn't work either.

Things stayed fairly quiet at the Dursley's for the next week, Harry got up early each morning and went for a run and then had breakfast - timing it so Vernon was gone first. Dudley continued to sleep until around 11am and would make it up for lunch. Finally, Friday came and at 11am Rick and Lucy showed up to pick up Harry. While Rick and Harry went to check that Harry had everything, Lucy had a cup of tea with Petunia and asked if she was feeling better, referring to Petunia passing out previously. Petunia said she was doing better but the doctors still had no idea what caused that episode.

Once the three, Rick, Lucy, and Harry, left the Dursley's, Rick told Harry they had a surprise for him, but it would have to wait until they made a stop first. The trip took a little longer than usual since both Rick and Lucy were used to driving, but not in England where the cars drove on the "wrong side" of the road, to reach London. They stopped at a nice little house in one of the outlying areas. When the door was answered it was by a young girl about Harry's age with bushy hair.

"Oh, hello Ms. Lucy, come on in and I'll get mom", the girl said and lead them to the "sitting" room before going to fetch her mom.

When the girl and her mom came back in Lucy introduced everyone, "Rick, Harry, I would like you to meet Emma and her daughter Hermione, Granger; Emma, Hermione, this is Rick and Harry, the young man I talked about so much."

The five of them sat around and talked for a while, until Emma's husband, Dan, came home for lunch and introductions were again made. Rick, Lucy, and Harry left soon thereafter so Dan could enjoy his lunch and they could get to the house. Once at their house and Harry's trunk was unloaded and placed in his room, Rick told Harry that the three of them needed to have a talk.

The three of them had a seat in the small sitting room and Rick said it was time to explain some things to Harry about Lucy and himself. Rick explained that only one of them ever stayed in England at a time unless Harry was in the house, then both stayed. Rick and Lucy took turns going back to the USA to continue working at their real jobs. Both adults worked for the MBI, Magical Bureau of Investigation, which was the same as the DMLE in England and then some. Rick explained that in the US they didn't have some of the outdated laws found in England, but they still had a few wizards and witches who thought it was okay to use their magic to steal from others and from the mundanes, or worse to harm people.

Rick was in deed a lawyer, in fact it was required that members of the MBI have a collage degree in something useful, which explained why Lucy had her MMD, or Magical Medical Doctorate, and was able to help Harry regain his health and magic last year. Rick explained that he and Lucy had been friends since they were about Harry's age and had worked together several times in the past on cases. Rick explained that the reason he and Lucy were there was because of a promise he had made Harry's dad, a magical promise that couldn't be broken even if Rick wanted to - which he didn't. That promise was to help Harry if something should happen to his parents and they were either incapable of, or unable to do so themselves due to illness or death. It just happened that Rick's promise was a good excuse for his being in England. Rick explained, very briefly, about how he had met Harry's mom and dad due to some very bad wizards coming to the US on orders from their boss, some madman who called himself "Lord Voldemort". Rick explained that that trip ended badly for the wizards as they all died at the hands of Rick's team and Rick was sent to return the remains to London where he met James Potter.

It was through James that Rick met first Lily, Harry's mom, and then some of James' friends, namely Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Rick went on to explain that it was this "Lord Voldemort" that had killed Harry's parents and that Sirius was blamed for telling where to find Harry's parents and sent to jail without a trial. But Rick knew that it wasn't Sirius who betrayed James and Lily, as Sirius would have given his life for either of Harry's parents (as would have Remus). Rick asked if Harry would like for Rick to find Remus and let the two of them meet and talk about Harry's parents? Harry was very enthusiastic about meeting Remus Lupin, so Rick said he would see what could be done. Rick told Harry that if he ever had any questions to be sure to ask either Lucy or himself and they would answer what they could and attempt to find answers to things they couldn't answer. Then Rick and Lucy told Harry to go fly for a while if he wanted but to stay within the boundaries of the property; that was the last the two adults saw of Harry for two hours.

It was during supper that Rick said that they would do more this summer than just study, they would have fun also. Harry asked if maybe he could see Hermione some more as he had never had any friends and she seemed to be lonely too. Lucy smiled at this and said she thought that would be an excellent idea and that she would broach the idea to Emma and Hermione the next day or so. As soon as supper was over Harry asked if they could go to the training room and let him use some magic to see if he had learned much from the books he had been reading.

Once in the room Harry tried all the spells he had read about and surprised Rick and Lucy when he completed just about all of the charms for first year. The problem came when Harry tried his first transfiguration spell, turning a match into a needle, instead of a needle he got a ring. Lucy told him that some people had trouble with transfiguration at first and not to be discouraged, Harry said he was surprised it worked at all. Then Harry tried something he had read about in one of the books, he pointed his wand at one of the dueling dummies and it exploded without Harry saying a word.

Rick was standing there with his mouth open, he looked like a fish out of water, for a few seconds before he asked Harry what spell had been used. Harry said he just thought 'Reducto', but it was supposed to shrink the dummy not blow it up. Rick laughed and said Harry had the wrong spell, he should have used 'Reducio'. Harry tried again with another dummy, but said the spell, and the dummy shrink to the size of toy. Lucy, who had been quiet all this time, asked Harry if he could do the 'Reducto' spell again but at a target she put up on the far wall. Harry pointed and the target exploded, Lucy fainted.

When Lucy woke up a few minutes later she said that the target was used to measure the strength of a spell and should have absorbed the spell instead of exploding. The target was set to measure spell strength from 1 to 100 on a scale, the reading she got was 110 just before it exploded. She cast the same target and asked Rick to try it, Rick scored a 80. Lucy said that was a little higher than she expected as the norm was 50 to 75. When Lucy tried she got a score of 49, which was good for a healer she said. Then she noticed which wand Harry had, it was the one they had gotten in the states and not the one Rick had given him at first.

Rick asked if Harry would like to learn a new spell, Harry told him he would try anything Rick or Lucy wanted him to do. Rick told him the verbal part of the spell, 'Protego', and had Harry cast it a few times on one of the dummies. It was after the fourth time that they saw a faint glow surround the dummy, Rick shot a mild Stupefy at the dummy and the spell bounced back, which Rick dodged. Next Rick tried a Reducto and it bounced back, now Rick tried again and shouted his Reducto. The rebounding spell hit Rick's shield and knocked him back about 10 feet, the dummy hadn't moved yet.

Rick got up shaking his head and tried to end Harry's shield and failed. Lucy told Harry to cancel the spell, Harry said he didn't know how to cancel a spell. Lucy told him the canceling spell was 'Finite Incantatum' and for him to try it; Harry was able to cancel the shield after about three tries. Lucy and Rick decided that they had enough for the night and suggested an early bedtime, but since tomorrow was a Saturday there would not be classes but they would do something fun.

After Harry was in bed Lucy had a talk with Rick and told him that the wards on the walls in the training room needed to be much stronger, she was afraid that if Harry really put his all into a spell it might escape or damage the walls. Rick agreed quickly and said that he would see what could be done as the wards were as strong as he could get them by himself. Lucy then reminded Rick what the wand maker in the states had said about Harry using a staff and his core strength.

Meanwhile at the Granger's house Hermione asked if she and Harry could maybe spend time together that summer as he seemed to not have any friends either. Emma said she would ask Lucy about the two kids spending time together. Emma knew that her daughter didn't have any friends at school and the kids around the area didn't like her because she was so smart in school.

The next morning at breakfast Lucy asked Harry what he would like to do that day, Rick had some work to do and would be gone all day so it would be just the two of them. Harry thought for a few minutes before asking if they could go to a movie or the zoo. Lucy thought those were both good ideas, and was surprised when Harry said maybe they could take Hermione too. Just before the two left to go see if Hermione would like to go with them to the zoo Lucy reminded Harry that the subject of magic was not to be mentioned around the Grangers, Harry said he understood.

When Lucy rang the doorbell at the Granger's house she was surprised when Dan was the one to answer the door, he explained that Emma and Hermione had gone to the store and would be back in a few and asked Lucy and Harry inside to wait. It was about an hour later when Emma and Hermione returned to find Lucy, Dan, and Harry in the back yard tossing a ball around. Hermione had never seen her dad play ball before and Emma told her that Dan was on a championship team in school and that if she ever asked he would be glad to show her how to handle the ball as well.

It was Harry that saw the two girls first and ran to say hello to Hermione and Mrs. Granger, followed by Dan and Lucy. Dan suggested that they all go inside and have some lemonades and then told Emma and Hermione that Harry and Lucy wanted to take Hermione to the zoo with them, if she would like to go. Hermione said she would like to go if it wasn't too much trouble. Dan tried to give Lucy some money but she refused as Harry wanted to treat Hermione and it wouldn't be much more than what it cost for the two of them anyway.

Harry and Hermione were having a ball at the zoo, and Lucy was thinking she needed a pepper-up potion to keep up with the two kids - but she was having a good time watching the kids have fun together. Everything was going well until the kids ran ahead of Lucy towards the petting zoo part. It was there they found some of Hermione's classmates. A couple of the boys started making fun of Hermione, and when one of them pushed her down Harry pushed the boy down also and told him it wasn't nice to pick on people, especially girls. The boy got up and tried to retaliate but Harry dodged him and was grabbed by another boy from behind. That didn't end well for the second boy as Harry just threw him over his shoulder and on to the ground remembering some of his training in self defense.

Lucy came up just as Harry tossed the boy on the ground and saw another boy take a swing at Harry from behind knocking Harry to the ground. Hermione hit the boy and he pushed her down again. That was when the attendant grabbed the boy by the shirt collar and told him he was no longer welcome in the area. Harry got up and helped Hermione, who was crying, up and as Lucy came up she heard Harry tell Hermione that he was sorry he had caused her to be hurt. Hermione went off on Harry for that and told him she thought he was wonderful for standing up for her and it wasn't his fault she got hurt, it was the other boys' fault for being bullies.

When the two boys tried to say Harry and Hermione started it several others told the attendant that it was the two boys who started all the fuss by pushing Hermione down first. The two boys were escorted out of the area and their parents were told that the two weren't welcome any more and to remove them. Lucy saw that Harry had a scraped elbow and both of Hermione's knees were scraped, she took them to the first aid station to be patched up. It was while they were there that Lucy noticed something, Hermione was scared and she was radiating magic. This would need further looking at in the near future.

The three of them left the zoo shortly thereafter and returned to the Granger's, by way of an ice cream stand to reward Harry for his defense of Hermione. When Dan and Emma heard what had happened they both thanked Harry for standing up for their daughter and that Harry was welcome at their house anytime. Hermione asked Harry if he would show her what her dad had taught him in the back yard, and maybe show her how he had thrown the boy off. That day was the start of a close friendship between Harry and Hermione. The next day the threesome went to the movies and to the mall after lunch.

It was Monday when Harry asked Rick if the Protego spell worked on physical attacks or just on spells. Rick told him he wasn't sure and that he knew a way to find out. Rick conjured up a pair of boxing gloves to fit Harry and told Harry to punch him, after he cast the spell. Harry's punch bounced off Rick's shield the first time, but not the second; Rick was on the ground again and holding his stomach. Harry was apologizing continuously and Rick, after getting his breath back, told him to quit as it was Rick's own stupidity that caused the accident. Then he told Harry that he had quiet a punch for an almost eight year old boy. Harry grinned. The two "boys" worked on physical fitness and self defense every day for at least an hour.

Over the next few weeks, while Harry and Rick worked together Lucy visited Hermione and asked if Hermione would be interested in helping her with a party for Harry's birthday. She explained that Harry didn't have any friends to invite and that it would be just the six of them, if Emma and Dan wanted to come. Emma suggested that they have the party at the Granger's so Harry would be surprised, Hermione and Lucy thought that was an excellent idea. While visiting with Hermione, Lucy ran a few silent and secret spells on Hermione and found that Hermione was undeniably a witch, and with some strong magic; now how to tell her and her parents.

Once Rick found out Hermione was a witch he had an idea. Rick asked Harry what was the easiest spell for him to cast, Harry thought for a few seconds then said he guessed 'Repairo' as he could do that one without his wand. This got Rick's attention, Harry was doing wandless magic and he was not even eight years old yet. Rick asked if Harry could do any other spells without a wand, Harry said sometimes he could levitate a really light item but not very high or for very long, about a minute or two depending on how heavy it was. When asked what he had levitated, Harry said himself was the heaviest and then only about 3 meters.

The morning of Harry's birthday he woke up and went down to breakfast, the only thing he noticed different was Twinkie had put "Happy Birthday" on top of his pancakes in chocolate syrup. Rick and Lucy didn't act any different, they did say happy birthday but that was it. After breakfast Rick said he had some work to do, so there wouldn't be any classes that day and Harry could just goof off until after lunch, then they had to go somewhere; Harry went flying to make himself feel better.

After lunch Lucy said that Petunia had asked if Harry could stop by today, so she would take Harry by there then over to see Hermione. This pleased Harry, seeing Hermione, but not the thought of seeing his aunt or cousin (he didn't want to think about seeing Vernon). Lucy told him to get cleaned up a little as they might take Hermione out for ice cream. When Harry and Lucy got to the Dursley's Harry was surprised when Petunia gave him a present and had a cake with his name on it made. The present turned out to be some pictures of Harry's mother when she was young and one or two of her and his dad. Harry was very thankful for the pictures, the cake, well Harry knew he could do better.

When Harry and Lucy got to Hermione's she wanted to show him something in her room so the two went upstairs. As soon as the two kids were upstairs Rick came in from the kitchen and said everything was ready in the back yard for Harry. Upstairs Hermione asked Harry if he could keep a secret. Harry said he would keep anything a secret if possible; Hermione showed Harry a trick, she made a book come to here from one side of her bed to the other. Hermione said she couldn't do often but from time to time it worked but she didn't want anyone knowing, they would just think she was even more weird than anyone thought. Harry was having a problem, should he tell his friend about magic or keep quiet as he had promised? He did tell Hermione that he didn't think her weird, just lucky she could do something like that. Those few words made Hermione smile, very few people ever paid her a complement (except her parents) until she met Harry.

The two kids went back downstairs and saw Rick was there; Rick and Dan said they would like to see if Harry had gotten better handling a ball and Hermione said she wanted to show everyone how much she had progressed. Harry was very surprised when he walked outside and saw a large sign saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY" hanging above a table with a cake and presents on it and everyone shouted "Surprise!!" at the same time. Harry had never had a birthday party before so this was very big to him.

After cake and ice cream, and the cake was much better than Petunia's, Harry opened presents. From Dan he got a new ball so he could practice at home and have fun. From Emma he got nice shirt and pair of pants; from Hermione he got books, of course. There were two presents from Rick and Lucy, the first was a picture of a set of luggage with a note "This was too big to wrap, so it is at home". The second present was two airplane tickets to the states and two "E" ticket books to Disney World. When Harry asked why two tickets he was told so he could invite his best friend along if he wanted, Harry immediately turned to Hermione and asked if she would like to go? Hermione looked at her parents and they both nodded their heads yes. Hermione hugged both parents and then, much to his embarrassment, hugged Harry. Rick said they were leaving the following weekend so they would pick Hermione up on Thursday to leave on Saturday. She could spend a day or so with Harry at their house before the trip, that way Harry wouldn't get bored while they finished up last minute preparations.

On the way home Harry told Rick and Lucy about Hermione doing magic, and said he had promised not to say anything but he thought they should know so they could be prepared if anything happened. Lucy and Rick both thanked Harry, then Lucy told him she had already discovered that Hermione was a witch and was thinking how to explain it to her and her parents. The three of them hadn't been home but about 30 minutes when there was a flash from the fireplace and out stepped a haggard-looking man with brownish hair and dressed very much out of fashion. Rick immediately went to him and shook his hand then turned to Harry and introduced Remus Lupin. Harry looked at the man and said "Uncle Mooney?", Remus just about broke down right there, he said he hadn't been called that in over seven years and was surprised Harry remembered. Harry and Remus spent an hour talking about Harry's parents, then Rick invited Remus to stay for supper and to stay the night. Remus tried to refuse but Lucy told him outright that he was staying and to quit trying to argue, Remus stayed.

Remus stayed for two days, then it was time to go get Hermione. While Lucy and Harry went to get Hermione, Rick had a talk with Remus and offered Remus a job. Remus said he didn't take charity and was told it wouldn't be charity as he would earn every gallon of his pay; the job was two fold, first he would be responsible for handling Harry's account to make sure it was not abused and it made money, second he would help teach Harry transfiguration since Rick and Lucy weren't very good with that one and Harry was having problems. The one requirement was nobody was to know about Harry; Remus said he could do that as he had already heard from Harry about the way he was treated when he was younger and Remus wasn't too happy with Dumbledore right now, or with the Dursley's. Rick went on to explain that Hermione was a witch and didn't know it yet, so she might be joining Harry in lessons, Remus didn't see anything wrong with teaching two students. Remus was quiet for a few minutes then said he had one problem, when Rick asked if he was referring to his "furry" problem not to worry as they would provide the wolfsbane potion as part of the pay, and of course they would provide room and board. Rick told Remus that he started the 1st of August, so Twinkie would set him up in a room while they were gone to the states.

On the way to pick up Hermione Lucy told Harry to be sure to take Hermione to see all of the house, especially the training room. Harry looked at her funny and she explained that he should show Hermione that he could do magic too, only not too much at first; with that Harry and Lucy both smiled. Once the threesome returned, Harry was sorry to see that Remus was gone but Rick said he would be back when they returned, Remus just had a few things to take care of first - like moving his stuff to the house. After putting Hermione's luggage in her room, Harry started showing her around the property (at least what they could reach easily). While they were exploring Harry asked if Hermione could do any more tricks, when she said no Harry offered to show her one of his. As Hermione watched, Harry pointed a stick at her and suddenly she was floating off the ground about a meter. Once he let her down he asked if she wanted to see another trick, Hermione was shocked but said yes so Harry summoned a rock from across the yard to his hand.

"Harry, how did you do that? How did you make me float like that? Do Rick and Lucy know you can do that?", Hermione started asking.

"Both of them know about it, in fact they helped me learn how to do things like that. Lucy thinks you might be able to do the same things with some practice; it's called MAGIC Hermione", Harry replied with a big smile. "Hermione, you are a witch. I don't want to sound mean but you are. A witch is a girl that can do magic, while a wizard is a boy who can do magic. Lucy is a witch and Rick and I are wizards; also, I am sorry but I told Lucy and Rick about your trick you showed me and they said I could tell you about magic. In fact Lucy already knew you were a witch, she tested you while she was at your house; just like she tested me before I started staying with them during the summer and on weekends during school. Magic is fun, but sometimes it is hard work getting it to work right. I have had to do a lot of reading and practice before I could do much. Maybe if we ask Lucy will show you more, it was her idea for me to show you some of what I've learned after I told them about you summoning that book in your room."

Hermione asked if Harry could show her more and he said to follow him to the training room so it would be safer. Once they were in the room Harry told her he needed to show her one more thing before he did any more magic and for her not to be afraid. Harry called Twinkie, once Twinkie popped in Harry introduced the two of them and asked Twinkie to help protect Hermione while he showed her some more magic.

"You's not supposed to do magic in front of anyone, you get in trouble", Twinkie replied.

Harry asked her to check with Lucy as she was the one who had told him to show Hermione, but he wouldn't do anything until Twinkie was satisfied that it was okay and would wait for her to talk with Lucy. Twinkie popped out and a few minutes later she popped back and said Ms. Lucy had said okay, but she wanted to talk with Ms. Hermione later that night. Harry showed Hermione several more spells and charms, he even was able to conjure some flowers for Hermione. When Hermione wanted to try Harry said until Lucy or Rick said it was okay she couldn't as he might not be able to fix any problems she had. Harry told her it was no fun to have a spell bounce back on you, sometimes they hurt and some of them could kill you if done wrong. He showed Hermione his Reducto on one of the dummies and she was convinced when it exploded. Twinkie had not seen Harry do that spell before and she was scared Harry would hurt someone. But Harry told her he had promised only to that one here in the training room unless Rick said he could do it otherwise.

That night after supper Lucy and Hermione went up to Hermione's room to talk about magic and what Hermione could and couldn't do while staying with them. They also talked about how to tell Hermione's parents about her magic. Lucy did promise to see if they could get Hermione a wand while they were in the states, but Hermione could only use it here at the house or while with her and Rick. The next morning Hermione joined Harry and Lucy while they did potions after breakfast; after lunch she watched while Harry and Rick worked on spells and then tried to join in with the self defense part, but she wasn't in very good physical shape and tired out quickly. Harry invited her to join him for his morning runs to help her get in shape and said that Lucy would most likely be able to show Hermione what she could do at home to get in better shape.

The foursome left for the US on Saturday, this was Hermione's first time flying and she was scared. Harry tried to calm her down by telling her it was fun to fly and while it took a while to get to the states they would have a lot of fun at Disney World, both public and in the magical part. As excited and nervous as Hermione was she soon fell asleep on the plane and had to awaken when they were ready to land. Their first stop was New York, after a short layover and a change of planes they headed for Orlando. Once in Orlando they went straight to the hotel and Lucy gave them all a potion to help get their bodies used to the time change.

Harry woke Hermione up at 6am, local time, to see if she wanted to run with him that morning. Hermione got dressed and ran with Harry but she got tired real quick so Harry said they would head back for breakfast and some rest before going to do anything else. It was after lunch when Lucy suggested they go swimming, Harry admitted he didn't know how to swim and Hermione said she would teach him what she knew. Then Hermione remembered she didn't have a suit, so she and Lucy went to get her one while Rick took Harry to get his.

Harry had not ever been swimming so he wasn't prepared for all the girls in swimsuits at the pool. Hermione wore a green one piece, and Lucy was wearing a light blue two piece that showed a lot of her, as far as Harry was concerned. Harry noticed that some of the girls were wearing very tiny suits and that got his attention until Hermione popped him and said he couldn't learn to swim unless he paid attention to her and not the other girls there. By the end of the day Harry was burned, but he could at least feel comfortable in the water, and Lucy had to apply some burn cream to his burns (she also gave Hermione some). Rick and Lucy told the two kids that tomorrow they were going to Disney World so to get plenty of rest because it was a large place and would take two to three days to see most of it, and that didn't include the magical part.

Hermione and Harry had a blast over the next two days, Rick and Lucy enjoyed the kids but were exhausted each night. On the third day they went to the magical side of the park and while there they found Hermione her wand, Willow with an eagle feather core. They also got Hermione a wand holder that would disappear on command to hide the wand. One of the places in the magical part was a place where people could duel for fun safely and Harry won not only his age group but two above him. Hermione was challenged but told the person she just got her wand and wasn't used to it yet, when they kept on taunting her Harry offered to take her place and beat the kid in about 30 seconds as Harry could do some wandless and nonverbal spells that the kid wasn't expecting. That night Hermione asked Lucy if she could start learning spells, Hermione said she liked that Harry took up for her but she wanted to be able to take up for herself too, she was tired of being bullied. Lucy explained that without Hermione's parents permission they couldn't teach her much, Lucy went on to remind Hermione about the Secrecy laws in both the US and England.

The next day Lucy brought Rick up to date on Hermione and her request for training. Rick said there wasn't much they could do right now, the only reason they could teach Harry was because Rick was his magical guardian and they had his non-magical guardian's permission (from Petunia). They could teach her theory of magic, history of magic, and potions but not spell work or wand work until they had her parent's okay. Rick did suggest that they get magical guardianship of Hermione as soon as possible so that Dumbledore couldn't interfere with her training, like he couldn't interfere with Harry's.

That day the foursome went to a magical zoo and the kids got to see some of the magical creatures they would be learning about once they got to Hogwarts, or another magical school. There weren't many animals that they could actually touch, Hermione got to pet an unicorn. They also found out Harry could talk to snakes, and some lizards, when a small garner snake slithered past Harry and Harry "heard" the snake complain about all the "two legs" scaring away all the mice. It was later that Harry heard an iguana complaining about not enough fresh water. When Harry mentioned this to Rick he got a shock in that he was informed that most people couldn't understand snakes or lizards and that Rick suggested Harry keep that trait to himself.

The four had been in the states for about a week when Rick said it was time to go home as Hermione's parents might think they had kidnapped her, besides Rick needed to get back to work. Neither of the kids were ready to return but they understood it was time to go home, since school would start soon. Besides Hermione wanted to get her parents talked to by Rick and Lucy so she could learn more about magic. It was a week after the trip when that chance came about.

Lucy got a frantic call from Hermione one morning saying she had a big problem and needed Lucy's help really quick. When Lucy arrived at the Granger's she soon saw the big problem. Hermione had accidentally enlarged an ant to the size of a medium size dog, and the ant wanted in the house so bad it was chewing through the back door. After Lucy handled the problem she had to laugh at the way Hermione's magic expressed itself, then she had to calm Emma down and try to explain what had happened, and why. At first Emma didn't want to believe Lucy, then Lucy did a few simple spells and charms to show Emma that magic was real. Hermione put the finishing touch to the topic when she got upset and the dishes started rattling. Lucy told Hermione to show her mother what she could do and to explain how long she had been doing the summoning in her room. Emma said Dan would never believe this about his daughter, she was wrong.

When Dan found out about Hermione he just said it sounded just like his great aunt "Lizzie" who none of his family ever met since she had moved away after she supposedly blew up the gas man. Dan then asked if Harry was magical, since Lucy and Rick were. Harry answered by handing Emma a bunch of flowers and another bunch to Hermione. That convinced Dan. Now the question that was on everyone's mind, what to do about this? Lucy and Rick offered to teach Hermione along with Harry and explained that Harry spent every other weekend during school with them so he could learn to control his magic and stay out of trouble. Rick explained about magical guardianships and offered for either he or Lucy to be Hermione's, they decided that Lucy would do it so Rick got the forms ready and had everyone sign where needed. It was Harry who suggested that they take Hermione to Dagon Ally and get her some of the same books he had, that was turned down at first until Lucy said she could take Hermione but due to his scar Harry couldn't go. Harry wasn't pleased but understood, he did ask for some magical sweets though.

Harry and Hermione had a wonderful summer and would now see each other every other weekend at Rick's house to train with Rick, Lucy, and Remus (who Hermione had yet to meet). It looked to be an interesting school year for both kids, and their families.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the delay with this chapter, but the holidays and poor health took it's toll. I want to insure everyone I do understand plot holes but the only one pointed out wasn't a hole!! It was just filler.**

**Push the green button and tell me what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7 School age 8

**Before Hogwarts**

**School 2 (age 8)**

Hermione only got about three weeks to train before the school year started, in those three weeks she spent most of her time learning how to be more fit. Hermione now, like Harry, got up each day and went for a run, followed by at least an hour of focused exercise before breakfast. Hermione had one advantage over Harry in that her guardians supported her education, unlike the Dursleys did for Harry, and they had room in the back yard for a small building so Hermione could set up a potions lab. This had two advantages, first it allowed Lucy to come by 2-3 times a week and catch Hermione up on potions, and second the potions lessons carried over and Hermione became a better person in the kitchen - in fact Emma wasn't afraid to let Hermione cook now.

Before the lab was ever used, Rick had put strong wards on the building to protect it from intruders and to contain any mishaps. Also, this lab was up to date and used the latest equipment available from the states; there were places for four small caldrons to heat, or two large ones, at the same time, and Lucy had set it up with all the needed ingredients that a first year would need to brew potions as listed in the current potions text from Hogwarts. Hermione wasn't allowed in the lab unless Lucy was present, except on rare occasions when Lucy would call and tell her to prepare certain components for their next lesson.

Harry was back at #4 Privet Dr. and not real happy about it. His aunt even took the time to ask about his summer and to ask about his trip to the states when she heard about it, but she told Harry not to say much around Vernon. Dudley was surprised when Petunia didn't give Harry his old clothes for school and when he saw that Harry had new clothes and they were stylish. In fact there were several things that Dudley didn't like about Harry, except Harry was a much better cook than Petunia.

The first day of school for Harry was interesting in that all of his teachers seemed glad to see him back. Harry was placed in the front of the class where he had a good view of the teacher and anything written on the board behind the teacher's desk. It was at lunch that the first problem came up, an older boy objected to where Harry was sitting and how close Harry was to the older boy's current interest, female wise. The boy walked up behind Harry and popped him on the back of the head, then told Harry to find somewhere else to sit. This was normal, what wasn't normal was when a teacher escorted the boy from the area and to the headmaster's office. By the end of the first week it was well known that nobody had best bother Harry as he was well liked by the staff.

Hermione's first week was quiet, several kids still teased her and tried to pick on her but she ignored them. Then she crossed paths with one of the boys from the zoo one day and things went downhill rather quickly. The boy again pushed her down and started berating her about getting him in trouble at the zoo. He told her she didn't have her "little friend" to protect her now. When Hermione got up the boy went to push her down again and Hermione pushed back, HARD, and the boy went flying across the ground about 5 feet and landed on his rear. What nobody noticed, but Hermione did, was the faint glow that had surrounded her just as she pushed the boy - she had done accidental magic again.

It was the second week of school before Harry and Hermione were able to go to the house for the weekend with Rick and Lucy. Rick picked up Harry and Lucy got Hermione, the two kids spent the first hour together telling each other, and their hosts, about the first few weeks of school. When Harry heard about the boy pushing Hermione he said she should learn more self defense, or maybe trade schools and come to where Harry went. Hermione said she was finished with running away from problems so it was time to learn more self defense, and turned to look at Rick.

The next morning after their run Rick introduced Hermione to something besides Ti Chi, he started both kids on Karate. He explained that Karate wasn't about breaking boards like in the movies, it was about defending yourself from someone stronger or better armed. The first thing they both learned was how to stand to make it harder to move them around as they were more stable. Next they were shown some very basic ways to break simple holds like a choke hold, someone grabbing a hand or arm, or someone grabbing them from behind - this one Harry had already used. It soon became a contest between the kids to see who could beat the other in sparring matches.

After lunch it was time for potions, their first official potions lesson together, Lucy explained that she wanted Harry to show Hermione how to brew a simple potion to remove or treat boils; all Lucy was going to do was watch, if they made mistakes she would help clean them up, but the kids had to endure the mistakes for themselves to learn. Harry had done this potion several times, but Hermione had only done it once, so he explained what was needed, reading from the book, and helped Hermione gather the ingredients and prepare them. Harry stopped Hermione from making a mistake that could have resulted in the two of them getting boils instead of treating them. After they had finished Lucy gave them her grade of their work, they both had passed that potion and Harry got another pat on the back for preventing an accident.

Next was Harry's favorite activity, flying, it was time to teach Hermione how to fly. The first problem was the broom didn't want to respond to her, when she said "UP" the broom just lay there on the ground. Lucy said she would work with Hermione while Rick worked with Harry on precision. An hour later just as they were getting ready to return inside Hermione got off the ground for the first time, after a 10 minute flight she asked for more. Once back inside Lucy said it was time to review their homework and see if they needed any help with their schooling; Harry had a few questions, but Hermione was able to explain things so he understood. When Hermione asked her questions she was surprised that Harry was able to explain things to her. Lucy pointed out different teachers reached different students in different ways, both kids smiled and agreed that they needed to talk to each other more often about school work and only bring questions neither could answer to Rick or Lucy.

When Rick heard about the decision he said maybe they needed to get a separate phone line for Harry to use to talk with Hermione, one that Vernon couldn't control. The kids liked that idea as it would allow them to talk about school and other things more often. Lucy suggested that Rick get it done as soon as possible and to make sure Harry had the number to this house so he could call if needed, like Hermione had done once. They took a break for an hour so the kids could have some free time to unwind and be kids.

Just as they finished supper Rick asked if they wanted to watch a movie or do extra wand work for fun. Everyone end up in the training room shortly after Rick asked his question. They decided to work on prank spells and the kids were shown how to change the color of hair and clothes. Hermione was the first victim of Rick's charm, but Harry got him from behind. Lucy tried to get Harry but he ducked the spell and got her instead. The kids and the adults had fun, Harry was the only one to escape a change in hair color - he even gave Hermione rainbow hair. The only mishap was when Hermione did the clothes change and instead of turning Lucy's shirt purple she turned it sheer white just as Rick shot a water spell, Lucy was left with a wet sheer top that didn't hide much, Harry blushed and Rick laughed as Lucy tried to cover up. Later Lucy said she didn't know the color change charm could do that and it seemed that Hermione's spell was permanent, no matter what she tried Lucy could not change her top back or to any other color.

After their run the next morning their first lesson was with Remus, it was time to start learning transfiguration from someone who was really good at it. When he heard about the shirt incident from the night before he told Hermione that sounded very much like a transfiguration and not a charm, he was impressed. Remus suggested that Hermione not let that spell get known when they went to Hogwarts as some of the boys might use it on her or other girls as a prank. By the end of the lesson both Harry and Hermione had completed their assignment and turned a rat into a cup, without hair or tails, Hermione's was the most perfect but Remus said for a first time try both passed with flying colors.

The kids managed to get about two hours time to fly, Harry showed Hermione some of the moves and tactics he had learned from the seeker the previous year and she said she didn't think she would try most of them. Then Harry had an idea, he transfigured a rock into a ball and the two of them played catch on brooms. Neither noticed that Remus was watching or the surprised look on his face when he saw Harry do the transfiguration as if it was second nature to him. As Remus watched them play catch he noticed that Hermione would make a fair chaser with a little instruction and practice. Neither Harry or Hermione wanted the weekend to end, they were having too much fun together, but it had to end as the next day was a school day.

It took Rick almost a week to get Harry a phone installed, in fact once it was installed Rick had to charm the box outside so that Vernon nor Dudley could find it after Vernon disconnected the line several times to prevent Harry from using it. The first call Harry made was to Hermione to tell her his number and about Vernon and Dudley being hexed. The two of them talked to each other every day, and as a result both of their grades went up as they explained things to each other and helped each other.

One night Harry woke up in the middle of the night and something didn't feel right. He got up and looked out his window and saw someone crawling into the window of the house across the street. Harry knew that house was owned by a elderly couple with no kids living there. Suddenly Harry heard shouting coming from the house; Harry didn't think he just reacted and the next thing he knew he was outside that house and someone was running towards him. Harry reacted again and the man was knocked down by a flash of red light from Harry's hand. It was a second later when a house elf appeared by Harry and said Twinkie sent him to check on Harry. The elf took Harry's hand and "popped" him back to his bedroom, about that time the police pulled up and found the man Harry had knocked down, from what Harry could see the police were glad to find the man. Harry called Rick, but it was Lucy who answered, and explained what had happened; Lucy told Harry to stay in the house and she would see him later that day, he was to stay home from school also.

Harry didn't go for his run that morning, Lucy had said to stay in the house and he did as told. It was during breakfast that he found out what had happened the nigh before, it was on the early morning news that a burglar had been caught at #3 privet Dr. early that morning when he was chased out of a house by the owner. The owner's wife was taken to the hospital after being struck by the burglar and was recovering from a blow to the head. The burglar had been found unconscious outside the house and was being held by the police as he had a history with them. Harry told Petunia what Lucy had said about staying home and she asked why. For some reason Harry didn't think he should tell about last night and just said Lucy needed to meet with him for something.

Lucy arrived around 8am, after Vernon had left, to speak with Harry, and Petunia. Harry explained again what had happened and Lucy asked him if he had taken his wand with him, when he said it was at her house she got a strange look on her face and told Harry he must have done a wandless stunning spell on the burglar and it sounded like he had apparated across the street and that was dangerous for someone his age. Harry said he wanted to check on the old folks across the street as they had always been nice to him, but they didn't get on with Petunia and her gossiping. Lucy told him to wait until after school let out so as not to raise suspicions.

Lucy spoke with Petunia and found that she was suspicious of Harry staying home from school. Lucy explained that Harry had seen what happened last night and she wanted to make sure he wasn't too effected by the violence he had seen. While Petunia was making tea for the two of them Lucy ran a quick scan on her, Lucy noted that the magic levels she had detected before were not changing. After the two enjoyed their tea Petunia asked if Harry doing okay in his studies with Rick and Lucy. Lucy found this strange but told her Harry was doing very well for his age and situation. Before she left, Lucy gave Harry a note saying he had been in for some tests so as to explain his missing school.

When Rick heard about Harry's adventure he wasn't too concerned until he found out it took a day and a half for the burglar to wake up after Harry stunned him, that was some stunner. When Harry called and told Hermione she told him to be more careful, but said he did the right thing trying to help the older couple. Harry told her that when he went to check on the old man he found out he hadn't eaten and didn't know how to cook much of anything so Harry cooked him a real meal instead of the old man eating cold cereal all the time until his wife got home.

Things settled down for both Harry and Hermione, once again Harry got to celebrate "Thanksgiving" with Rick and Lucy (this time Hermione was there too). Then it was time for Christmas, now this year Harry had been getting an allowance from Rick depending on his grades and how Harry did in his lessons (and neither Lucy, Rick, or Remus could find any problem with Harry's lessons) so he had some money to spend on presents this year. The first present he bought was for Hermione, with Lucy's help, a bright winter scarf in Hermione's favorite color. Harry got Rick, Lucy, Remus, and both adult Grangers presents. He also took a fresh batch of homemade cookies over to the older couple across the street, this surprised them very much and they were even more surprised when Harry offered to shovel their walkway and refused to accept payment - he said it was a Christmas present for them.

When Vernon saw Harry shoveling the walkway across the street he told Harry he could do theirs also, Harry said Dudley could do the Dursley's since the older couple didn't have anyone to help them. Vernon's face got very purple and he started spitting and sputtering, just as he was about to hit Harry a strange creature popped into being right in front of Vernon and pointed a finger at him, the next thing Vernon knew was when he hit the wall behind himself.

"You will not harm Mr. Harry Potter, if you raise a hand against him again you will be punished. I will be watching you sir", said the elf and he popped right out again. Harry didn't remember ever seeing that elf before and wondered where it had come from, or where it went.

Harry decided that it would be a very good idea to go to his room and close the door, and lock it - he hadn't felt the need to lock the door in some time. Harry sat on his bed and thought about the strange elf; that elf was dressed in an unusual fashion, it had been wearing nice clothes and not a uniform like Twinkie wore. Harry called Hermione to check with her to see if she was ready to go to Rick and Lucy's, come to find out nobody answered the Granger's phone.

The next morning Lucy showed up to get Harry for his two week holiday visit and was told by Petunia about the strange happenings the previous night. When Lucy asked Harry about the elf, Harry told her he thought that maybe either Rick or Lucy had sent the elf to watch over him. Lucy said that Twinkie, or one of her friends, checked on Harry every now and then but it didn't sound like any of the elves she had met. Lucy asked Petunia to remind Vernon of the conditions of the contract and the way Harry was to be treated. This time Lucy had not driven, she hated driving in the snow, so they just disappeared from the living room and appeared at the house where Harry found all of the Grangers, plus Remus, waiting.

It was after supper when Lucy said she had called her own elf over to spend the holidays with her and she wanted to introduce him. She called Caesar and an elf appeared, shocking Dan and Emma even though they had met Twinkie before. As soon as Caesar appeared Harry recognized him as the elf who had stopped Vernon. Before Harry could say anything Caesar got an upset look on his face.

"Ms. Lucy, Caesar has been a bad elf. He allowed the uncle of Mr. Harry Potter to see him and attacked said uncle when he tried to assault Mr. Harry Potter. Caesar awaits his punishment", Caesar said quickly.

"Caesar, there will be no punishment. You acted to keep Harry safe and I am glad you were there to protect Harry. Now, this is Hermione Granger, her parents Dan and Emma Granger. Please help Twinkie to make them comfortable and to take care of them, including Harry", Lucy replied.

Harry knelt down and held his hand out towards Caesar and told him thanks for protecting him from Uncle Vernon. To everyone's surprise Caesar bowed very low towards Harry and replied, "It is my honor to help the great Harry Potter, sir. If Caesar can ever be of service Mr. Harry Potter has only to call for Caesar", and shook Harry's hand briefly then popped out.

Remus commented that was strange behavior for a house elf and Lucy said Caesar had always been very protective of her and her close friends. As far as Lucy was concerned Caesar was family and not a servant like the elves in England were treated. This seemed to be a sore subject for Lucy. Things calmed down and everyone went into the living room, the adults had coffee and the kids had hot chocolate. They all talked and Harry found out that Rick and Lucy had invited the Grangers to spend the holidays with them so they could see more of the magical world. Rick, Lucy, and Remus invited both adult Grangers to sit in on the classes with Harry and Hermione the next day so they could see what was going on, even if Emma had sat in on a few of Hermione's potion lessons before. The kids didn't look too happy about having classes during the holidays.

Dan and Emma didn't join Harry and Hermione for their early morning workout, but came down for breakfast. Both seemed surprised that the kids were already up and had been for an hour and a half. After breakfast the first class was Remus and transfiguration, they were making Christmas ornaments for the tree - now that was fun. Next Remus said they were going to combine charms so that some of the ornaments would produce sound and or move on their own, again the kids enjoyed the class as it was fun to watch the expressions on Dan and Emma's face as they did the charms.

Next was Rick and spell and wand work. Rick sat the Grangers by the wall and told them for their protection he was going to put a shield in front of them so they could see and hear but not be harmed by stray spells. Once the shield was up, Rick asked that Harry and Hermione give a demonstration of what they had learned and to explain to the Grangers what they were doing. Hermione was first and explained the stunning spell, 'Stupefy' and demonstrated it on one of the dummies, only to have the spell bounce back at her. Harry reacted and produced a shield in front of Hermione without thinking, the only problem was that shield redirected the spell on to Rick before he could react so he ended up stunned on the floor.

Dan asked why Hermione had a golden glow around her, Hermione explained that Harry had cast a shield to protect her from her own spell. Hermione went on to say that sometimes Harry's shields were very strong and they were usually golden in color if strong. Hermione tried to end the shield but couldn't, then she looked at Harry and started tapping her foot. Harry blushed and ended the shield, then cast 'Ennervate' on Rick to wake him up. Rick got up and told them that sometimes Harry's reaction was so quick and strong even he couldn't cancel Harry's shield. Then Rick laughed and told Dan and Emma that they saw how well Hermione could stun someone even with a redirected spell that had lost most of it's energy.

Rick then explained that it seemed that the most fun the two kids had was when they dueled each other. Dan asked if that wasn't dangerous and Rick said it could be but both kids were very careful and had not hurt each other yet, they might knock one another on their rears but they never injured each other. Rick had Harry and Hermione show some of the other spells they had learned. Dan asked if they had learned to hurt people, Harry answered by saying any spell could injure someone if need be, but the most powerful spell they knew was the blasting spell 'Reducto' which made the dummies explode and could break down walls or doors. Hermione went first and her spell knocked the dummy to pieces. Just as Harry was getting ready to do the spell, Rick asked that Harry cast his strongest shield in front of the Grangers and him and then do his strongest Reducto. Harry asked if Rick was serious about that request, Rick nodded.

Harry cast his strongest shield in front of the others and turned towards the dummies. Harry took a deep breath and cast the spell. The dummy disappeared into dust, the wall had a hole about a foot across in it, and the whole house shook. It was only a matter of seconds before both Lucy and Remus were there to see what was wrong and to try and help. Remus came in the door and ran into Harry's shield and bounced back. Lucy came in saw the shield and stopped before hitting it. Harry was lying on the floor with a very bright golden glow around himself. The shield was finally dismissed by Rick, Lucy, and Remus together. But none of them could do anything about the shield around Harry until Hermione asked if they could try again but let her help. The four of them, plus Twinkie and Caesar, together were finally able to end Harry's self protection shield.

Lucy quickly started diagnostic spells on Harry and determined that Harry's core was very low. Somewhere in an old manor two rubies lit up making a total of three red rubies shining brightly, and a very scared elf went running away shouting "Gustus!", he failed to notice that the name Harry James Potter now glowed on a tapestry before fading back out. In a castle in Northern Scotland two rubies glowed on a sword briefly and went unnoticed. In an underground building in London several people noticed a very large surge of magical energy but couldn't tell where it came from, that surge was followed shortly by another surge that couldn't be backtracked.

Lucy had Harry levitated to his room and placed in bed in a matter of minutes. Remus was asking what happened to Harry and Rick told him.

"I was a fool and asked Harry to show his strongest Reducto to the Grangers. He must have put an enormous amount of his energy into that spell, the dummy was reduced to dust, the spell burned through my strongest wards and left a hole in the wall, and shook the whole house. I knew Harry was going to be a strong wizard but that display was way beyond anything I imagined. There is no way an eight year old could have a shield so strong the three of us couldn't breach it. Remus what have I done?", was Rick's reply.

Upstairs Lucy was spelling potions into Harry's system to stabilize his core and vital signs. Hermione was crying and Dan and Emma were shocked beyond belief at what they had seen Harry do. It took an hour before Lucy was satisfied with Harry's condition and went looking for Rick, after asking Twinkie and Caesar to keep watch on Harry for her. Lucy found Rick and was told the same thing as Remus about what had happened.

"I told you to strengthen those wards, what if the ministry was able to backtrack that surge of energy? They may be knocking at the door very soon", Lucy exclaimed.

There was no knock at the door, and by morning Harry was awake, weak, and hungry. Lucy was notified of Harry waking up and his request for food, she allowed clear liquids only at first. It wasn't long before Hermione was by Harry's bed and checking him herself, after all he was her best friend - maybe her only friend. By Christmas Day Harry was back on his feet and was awaken by Hermione to open presents and go down for a Christmas breakfast. Hermione again hugged Harry, and again Harry blushed brightly, when she opened her present from Harry. Everyone was happy with their presents and the kids weren't too excited that school would start back soon.

The holidays finally came to an end and it was back to school for Harry and Hermione, but both were looking forward to the next holiday, Easter. The second week after Christmas was when midterm grades came out. Harry and Hermione were both at the top of their year in their schools, and were tied in all of London for their year. The every other weekend with Rick and Lucy continued, but Harry was never asked to do a full power Reducto, or any other spell at full power, again. In fact both Rick and Remus kept Harry's magic to a low level for fear that Lucy would kill them if Harry got hurt again, and they had noticed that Hermione was very protective of Harry and she was quite powerful herself.

One of the major changes after Christmas was that Hermione started doing more exercise and drug her parents along with her on morning runs and on the weekends she was home insisted they join her in her exercise regiment. Hermione also insisted on taking more advanced subjects as private study, she was learning advanced math, science, and basic chemistry. She even convinced Harry to study the same things and it was driving Rick and Lucy up the wall as Remus didn't know much about muggle subjects as he called them, and Rick and Lucy were rusty on those subjects.

It was during the Easter holiday that Harry asked about more of his mom and dad's friends, especially one Sirius Black. These questions bothered Remus as he was still unsure if Sirius was guilty or not of betraying James and Lily and killing Peter Pettigrew and all those people. But Remus answered the questions as best he could, and Rick even told a few stories of his time with Harry's parents. It was during this time that Rick decided that it was time to do something about Sirius' situation, it was time to "spring" the old dog.

* * *

**A/N: Well here is chapter 7 and this ends the school year for Harry and Hermione basically. I know, I seemed to rush through the year but I want to get to the summer and find out what Rick does about Sirius. Don't expect to see much of Caesar, he will show up from time to time but not often as he is back in the USA taking care of Lucy's interests.**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


	8. Chapter 8 Sirius Escapes

**Before Hogwarts**

**Sirius Escapes**

Rick called Remus into the study one day about a week before Harry and Hermione were due to arrive for the summer. Remus thought it was to talk about the summer courses the kids were to have, he was only partly correct.

"Remus, I know I've said this before, I think Sirius Black is innocent. I don't think he could have betrayed James, Lily, and especially Harry. I want to ask for your help proving, or disproving, this feeling. What I need from you for now is information, and if possible something of Sirius' like a hairbrush or comb. Something that had Sirius' blood would be even better. I need something to get Sirius' DNA. I have a wild idea of a way to get Sirius out of prison, once he is out I know we can prove him innocent. Will you help?", Rick inquired as he looked Remus in the eye.

"Rick, I'll help but if Sirius is guilty then he either goes back to prison or I kill him", Remus replied.

"Fair enough, in fact if Sirius is guilty I'll help you kill him. Forget him going back to prison, if guilty then he dies at our hands", Rick concluded.

Rick explained what type information he needed and Remus left to see what he could find. Rick called Twinkie as soon as Remus was gone.

"Twinkie, I need your help for a surprise for Harry. I need to speak with a couple of English house elves, or have you do it for me. I need to know if it is possible for a house elf to get into the prison here in England and get a man out without any of the wizards here knowing or finding out. Can you do this for me and keep it a secret from Harry?", Rick asked. Twinkie just stood there for a few seconds thinking then said she would see what she could find out, but it would be difficult.

It was a few days later when Twinkie came to Rick and said that all the elves she had talked to said it was impossible for an elf to enter the prison unless the elf's master was there and called them to the place. But, the master could not be a prisoner as the magic prevented an elf from being called by a prisoner. Rick was disappointed as that would have been the easiest way to get Sirius out without anyone knowing. Now, on to plan B. Rick thanked Twinkie for her help and the information.

Remus came in a few minutes later with a package which he gave to Rick. The package contained a blood stained shirt and handkerchief. "This is an old shirt that belonged to Sirius. The blood is from a spell that Severus threw at him that caused many cuts to appear. The handkerchief was used to try and stop the blood flow. This is all I could find that might have Sirius' DNA on it.", Remus explained.

Rick thanked Remus and said it would have to do, even if it was very old blood. Rick then asked Remus if he knew of a place where they could keep Sirius, provided they got him out, safely and away from prying eyes. Rick said he knew they couldn't keep Sirius here at the house, it was too dangerous. Remus said he would think about that and see what came to mind.

Rick took the shirt and handkerchief to Lucy and asked her if she could extract enough DNA so they could charm a piece of parchment to react to it if fresh blood was applied from the same person. Lucy told him that it would take a few days and to remember that the kids were due that weekend to start their summer stay. Rick hoped that Lucy came through for him.

The kids came that weekend and the mayhem started. Rick explained that he had some work to do and that the kids were on their own for the next week or two, so have fun. But Remus and Lucy would probably still be teaching them things in his absents. As it turned out Remus did have a plan for the kids that he thought they would enjoy. He was going to teach them more about Quidditch and hopefully get Hermione interested in being a chaser. Lucy too told the kids she had some important work to do and that they would have to depend on Remus for guidance and lessons, but to have some fun that was important too.

It was a few days later that Lucy brought three sheets of parchment to Rick saying these were all she could do with the old blood from the shirt and handkerchief. The parchments would react to fresh blood from the same person by glowing and then returning to the lab. It had not been easy to get this to work and a lot of luck was involved. Now what did Rick have in mind for these?

Rick explained his idea and Lucy thought he was crazy but would do all she could to help. Rick's next step was to call in a favor or two from his friends and old teammates. He needed someone with a law degree who could pull off acting very feebleminded and be distracting. Who better to ask than his teammate Darrell, that man could distract a demon. It wouldn't hurt that Darrell was almost as strong magically as Rick, but hid it very well.

Rick made arrangement to meet Darrell and ask for his help, Darrell would probably think it a great joke to play on the British wizards - and if it worked then he would be right, it was a great joke. Darrell and Rick met a couple of days later in Paris, after all it wouldn't do for them to be associated with each other in England. Rick explained what he was up to and what he needed Darrell to do, just as Rick suspected Darrell thought this would be a really good joke on the "stuffed shirts" in England and was all for the idea.

**-o-o-o-o-**

It was two weeks later when a mild mannered Darrell showed up at the British Ministry of Magic with a strange request. He needed to see one of their prisoners, one Sirius O. Black, in matters related to paternity in the states. At first his request was denied, then he explained that all he needed was about ten minutes with the man and a blood sample. Darrell even offered to go to the prison to do the interview, if that was allowed. The interview was finally allowed when Darrell mentioned that his client was very high up in the government back home and could cause some real problems when he didn't get his way.

It may have been summer but it was still very cool in the north Atlantic where the wizard's prison was located. Darrell was taken to the prison by a young man named Dingus. Darrell had to give up his wand to the warden, but was assured that the Dementors would not be a problem. God he hated those things for real and was thankful they had been removed from the US. Darrell was shown to a dirty room and soon a very disheveled man was soon brought in, in chains no less. Darrell asked if they could release at least one of the man's hands so he could sign some papers.

After the guards had left the room, Darrell cast a silent wandless spell to prevent anything being heard outside the room. This was standard practice in the US to insure privacy.

"Mr. Sirius Black I assume. My name is Darrell Smith and I'm from the US. I'm here to talk with you about a paternity matter there. I will explain and will need a small sample of your blood. You know this is only the second time I've had to visit a person in prison, the last time was some rat faced man named Pettingzoo; no Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew yes that was his name. A disgusting little man, turned out he was an animagi and used his animal form to escape prison. That was real embarrassing for the prison.

He kept talking about some group he had been in, The Marauders, and some place having to do with warts on a hog? Oh well, that's not important right now; I do get distracted every now and then.", Darrell went on.

The mention of Peter Pettigrew and Hogwarts got through the haze in Sirius' brain and now he was very interested in what this man had to say. But he had to be careful how he acted.

". . . oh what were those names Pettigrew kept mentioning, Prongs, Padfoot, Mooney, and Wormtail; yes that's it. And he kept saying the same thing all the time 'I swear I'm up to no good' whatever that means. I wonder if they were in that Marauders group? Oh, I guess I had best get the guard so he can witness my obtaining the blood sample", Darrell went on again.

Darrell got up and knocked on the door and asked if the guard would witness the sampling, just to keep everything legal. Once the guard was watching, Darrell withdrew a sample of Sirius' blood and applied one drop to a parchment. The parchment glowed briefly then disappeared. "Well, that proves you are the Sirius Black I'm looking for doesn't it?"

"Well now Mr. Black, I will be here in jolly old England for another week or so if you have any questions you can find me at . . Oh what was that address again, oh here it is 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Glasgow."

"Mr. Smith what exactly am I accused of this time? I mean I've never been to the US so how can I be the one you are looking for?", Sirius asked.

"Oh didn't I mention it was a paternity matter, it seems you got some girl pregnant about 9 years ago and now she wants you to support the child as she has fallen on hard times. Well I must say you are a lot more pleasant than I expected, yes much better than that Pettigrew guy. Why the nerve of him not reporting that he could change into an animal, I understand it isn't an easy task to perform. That's one of the reason we got rid of the Dementor guards, they can't see animals, or animagi either I guess when they are in animal form. Well, if you will just read this and sign it we will be finished and I can get out of this horrid place.", Darrell said hoping Sirius was catching on to what he had said.

Sirius read the parchment and was surprised that it contained the phrase "I swear I am up to no good". Sirius had to reread that several times, before he understood that he was to place his thumb inside a square before signing the form. As soon as he placed his thumb print in the square the document changed and he read the new note.

_Sirius,_

_As soon as you can get in touch with Padfoot, come to 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Glasgow. We have something you need to see, Prongsett. This is not a trick, I swear this on my magic and on the honor of the Marauders._

_Mooney_

Sirius felt something strange touch him and noticed that Darrell had touched his hand and was trying to get him to sign the form. As soon as Sirius signed the note from Mooney disappeared, as did the parchment.

"Well, Mr. Black that concludes our business so I will leave this horrid place and let you return to whatever you were doing. I would suggest you take a bath sometime soon, I heard saltwater is good for toughing the skin. Yes a good cold saltwater bath would do you good", with that remark Darrell got up and left.

A couple of days later the newspapers were all proclaiming that Sirius Black had escaped from prison and asked that anyone having information to contact the police. This was carried in both magical and regular papers complete with an old photo of Sirius. Meanwhile in Glasgow a large, thin black dog was seen entering the back yard of 1313 Mockingbird Lane, that is if you were up at 3am to notice.

When Sirius got to the yard he saw Remus and another man waiting with wands drawn and pointed at him. He thought to run but was suddenly bound with magical ropes. "Sirius, if that is you change back right now on your own or we will force the change.", Remus said.

Sirius changed back into his human form only for the ropes to be reapplied. "Sirius, prove it is you and not someone else. Tell me about the humpbacked witch at Hogwarts", Remus continued.

Sirius told them that the humpback witch was the entrance to the secret passage to the sweet shop in Hogsmead. The ropes fell away and Remus approached with his hand out. Sirius was pulled into a rib cracking hug by Remus.

"Sirius, this is Rick Green. I'm sure you remember him from his visit to James and Lily's just after Harry was born. Well he says you are too dumb to have betrayed James and Lily, so it must have been Peter. Rick was also the one to come up with a way to get you out of prison without any help from the Ministry. Now come inside before someone sees us. You could probably use a hot meal, stiff drink, and a hot bath - especially the bath.", Remus went on as he lead Sirius inside the house, followed by Rick with his wand still out and ready.

As soon as the door shut the lights came on and there was Darrell with his wand out also. Remus had Sirius sit down then explained what was going to happen to Sirius that night. Either Sirius was proven innocent or he died right where he sat. Remus said that Sirius would be given a truth potion and that his answers would decide if he lived or died. Sirius' only comment was get the potion and get this over with.

Sirius answered all the questions asked and as soon as the potion wore off he received another rib cracking hug from Remus, then Rick and Darrell. "Paddy old man, I'm sorry I doubted you. But I listened to Dumbledore and he said you were guilty of betraying James and Lily to Voldemort and of killing all those people in the street, including Peter. Can you ever forgive my old friend?", Remus asked Sirius.

"Remus, of course I forgive you. It was my idea to change the secret keeper for James and Lily. I thought I was too likely and they might find a way around the charm and get the information from me somehow. When I heard about James and Lily I went looking for Peter and found him. I would have killed him then and there except he blew up all those people and I was knocked out. The next thing I knew I was in custody and on my way to prison, without a trial. Now I'm out and it is time to find Peter and revenge James and Lily. Now someone said something about a stiff drink and food.", was Sirius' reply.

Rick suggested Sirius have a bath first, then food. Remus and Darrell agreed to that suggestion as they held their noses and fanned the air. Sirius had a very stiff drink then went to drown himself in hot soapy water. After his bath, and in clean clothes that fit - kind of. Sirius sat down to a large meal that Twinkie had made for him. While he ate, Rick, Remus, and Darrell explained what was planned next. First, Sirius was going to meet Harry and spend sometime with him. Then Sirius was headed to the US to hide out and get his health back before they went looking for Peter. Sirius asked about a wand as his had been broken. Rick said that would be taken care of in the states, that way nobody in England would know he had a wand and therefore couldn't try and track it.

It was two days later when Rick and Remus called both kids into the study. "Harry, remember when we talked about the night your parents were killed? Well, at the time it was thought that Sirius Black, your Godfather, was the one who betrayed your parents. Remus and I have found out that was false and that Sirius was innocent and should have not been sent to prison", Rick started only to be interrupted by Harry.

"In that case we need to get Sirius out and show them he is innocent!", Harry interjected and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Well, that is why we called you in here. Sirius make yourself visible and say hello to your godson and his best friend Hermione Granger", Rick said.

Sirius appeared out of nowhere and Harry, Hermione, and Sirius just stared at each other for a few seconds before Harry ran to hug his godfather. Hermione walked slowly over to say hello and was surprised when Sirius held out his hand to her and said any friend of Harry's would always be a welcome sight to him. Sirius then told both kids he could only stay a day or two as he was "on the run" and didn't want to cause any problems for Rick, Remus, Harry, Lucy, or Hermione. So he was going to stay with some friends of Rick's and Lucy's in the states until he was feeling better and could get his health back, but he would keep in touch through Rick and Lucy.

The next day Sirius got to see Harry do some of his magic and Sirius was dumbfounded at the power Harry showed, and he soon noticed that Hermione wasn't any weakling either. she might have given Lily a run for her money. It was when he saw the way Harry flew that he knew this was James' son for sure. Sirius was even better at transfiguration than Remus and showed the kids a few tricks. Sirius even got a chance to fly with Harry and Hermione and found that Hermione would give most chasers a real run on the Quidditch pitch. Hermione might be 9 going on 10 but in a couple of years she would most likely rule the pitch, especially if Harry played seeker.

There had been one time after Sirius heard where Harry was staying and how he had been treated when Rick and Remus thought they had a problem. Sirius was ready to go pay a visit to the Dursleys and express his displeasure with their treatment of his godson. It had taken a lot of talking to calm Sirius down and prevent that visit.

Meanwhile somewhere in London in an underground building, several people were discussing how Sirius Black had been able to escape prison. It had never been done before, the Dementor guards caught them all and that was the end of the escape. But the guards said Black just went missing during the night sometime. A check of all the magical sensors didn't show any strange magic anywhere close to Black's cell. The only thing found was the death of a condemned man who had been "kissed" as ordered.

In another part of that same building a tall elderly man with a long gray-white beard, wearing a bright purple robe with silver moons and stars on it was talking with a man wearing a bright green bowler hat. The two men, Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge, were discussing the missing Black and a couple of unusual magical surges that couldn't be traced back to their source.

"Cornelius, I don't see how Sirius Black could get out of his cell, much less off the island. The wards are intact so even if he somehow got a wand he couldn't disapparate off. The sensors show no traffic out to the island since a week before and that was the auror boat. Now these surges that were recorded, these are disturbing, the power is too great to be an underage witch or wizard. These have to be from a very powerful full grown wizard or witch. I'm not sure the wards at Hogwarts could contain this much power. But, on the other hand there may be a malfunction of the monitoring system. I assume the system has been checked", Dumbledore said.

"Yes, the system has been checked and nothing was found to be wrong. What are we to do about Black? I've asked the DMLE to put as many men on his escape as they can spare. If he-who-must-not-be-named wasn't dead I would think he had something to do with Black's escape. This doesn't look good for me, there has never been a successful escape from that place. Maybe Black should have been 'kissed' instead of just imprisoned for life", Fudge replied.

It was the final weekend and Sirius was getting ready to leave with Darrell and Harry and Hermione were getting ready to return home and to school. As usual, Hermione was looking forward to school starting; not so with Harry, he had enjoyed his time with Sirius. Sirius was not sure what would happen once he got to the US. The plan was for Darrell to take Sirius in as a roommate and get Sirius some type of job. Sirius was still weak and would need another month of potions and a good diet to get back where he was supposed to be health wise. Sirius was also concerned that the money put back for Harry would run out before Harry came into his inheritance. Rick assured him that wouldn't happen since Vernon was contributing funds - even if he didn't know it yet.

* * *

**A/N: Now Sirius is semi-free and safe. Do you want a short chapter dealing with Harry's summer or will this be enough and I go on to the school year? Let me know soon as I need to plan ahead somewhat. Just a reminder there won't be much about Dumbledore or the rest of the people from the books until Harry starts Hogwarts (if I don't decide to put him in school in the states that is -- just kidding that would limit a lot of action from the books). Sorry this one is so short.**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


	9. Chapter 9 School age 9

**Before Hogwarts**

**School 3 (age 9)**

Hermione was excited, school started back tomorrow and she couldn't wait to ask her teachers a lot of questions. It would be so much better if Rick or Lucy knew more about non-magical education, but what they did know was from the US and things were different there. She had been surprised to learn that Lucy had a college education in the states, as did Rick. Lucy had explained that there was a lot taught in school that was useless in later life so it was quickly forgotten and only the knowledge you used often was retained.

Harry was back at #4 Privet Dr., but he wasn't sure why he had to continue to stay there. He had asked Rick and Lucy but all they said was it wasn't time for him to leave yet. He asked Sirius and was told that until Sirius was cleared he was unable to care for Harry in a proper manner. Remus' explanation was that the ministry would never allow a werewolf to care for a child not his own. So Harry was stuck at his aunt and uncle's home.

It was the second day of school when Harry was called to the headmaster's office. Harry was told that there had been an inquiry about how Harry could raise his grades so much in a short time. Therefore the Office of Education had ordered another exam to be administered by one of their staff to make sure Harry wasn't cheating on his exams. The exam was scheduled for the following Monday morning and a letter had been sent to Harry's guardians notifying them of said exam. Harry was not to attend classes until after the exam, so he could review and be ready. Harry was told to gather his stuff and to return to the school at 8am the following Monday.

As soon as Harry got away from the school he had an idea. He ducked down an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster and called Twinkie to him.

"Twinkie, I need to see either Rick or Lucy as soon as possible. I've been sent home from school due to some complaint, I really need to talk with one of them", Harry expressed with a scared tone of voice, almost crying. Twinkie took Harry's hand and popped him back to Rick's house, right into Harry's bedroom.

"Master Harry put his things away, Twinkie get Mr. Rick or Ms. Lucy. Both out right now, but Twinkie find", was all that the little elf said before she popped out.

Harry put his school things away and was just going downstairs when Remus came in the front door of the house. "Harry what are you doing here at this time of the day? Why aren't you in school, is anything wrong?", Remus asked excitedly. Harry explained what had happened and why he was there at the house instead of going back to the Dursley's. Remus said he was sure Rick or Lucy would take care of the matter as soon as they heard about it. Remus then suggested that the two of them go raid the kitchen until someone else showed up.

It was an hour later when Lucy came back and she was surprised to see a young boy flying around catching golf balls thrown by Remus Lupin. Once she got the whole story Lucy said she would return soon. Lucy didn't waste much time, she changed clothes and disapparated to #4 Privet Dr. Petunia was very surprised when she opened the door to see Lucy, and Lucy didn't look happy.

"Petunia, I am sorry to be so blunt, but do you know anything about Harry being sent away from school today?", Lucy asked very abruptly.

"No, this is the first I've heard of that. Where is Harry, he hasn't come home if he was sent away. I've been here all day and was getting ready to go to the grocery to get a few things for supper. But I can wait until the boys get home from school to go", was Petunia's response, though she did seem a little concerned. Lucy explained that Harry had gone to their house instead of coming to Privet Dr.

About that time the mail arrived and there on top was a letter from the school, but it was addressed Vernon Dursley only. Lucy really wanted to see what that was about, but Petunia said it would only make Vernon mad if they opened the letter. Lucy asked that Petunia let her know if the letter concerned Harry. Harry didn't return to Privet Dr. that day and Vernon seemed happier about that, he didn't even ask about Harry.

Vernon had gone to bed when Petunia got a chance to read the letter from the school. It was a notice that Vernon's complaint was being investigated and they would notify him of the results of that investigation and thanked him for bringing the matter to their attention.

Meanwhile at Rick and Lucy's, Rick had found out about Harry and was a little suspicious of the circumstances and very upset at the same time. Rick said he would have a talk with the school the next day and since Harry wasn't allowed to go to classes he could stay at the house and review. It was 8am before Petunia called the next morning to tell Lucy about the letter.

Rick was at the main office of the school system by 815am, he didn't know about Petunia's call. It didn't take much to get in to see the Superintendent of Schools after he indicated that he might be suing the school. The superintendent was able to tell Rick that they had received a complaint that suggested that Harry had been cheating and that the cheating might have effected several students. The policy of the school system was not to reveal the name of the complainant so as to encourage more people to report what might be inappropriate actions and situations. Rick asked the superintendent which were higher, local standards or international standards of education.

According to the superintendent the standards were equal except that locally it was required to have more interest on British history than was required by international standards. This was understandable to Rick as the US did the same thing and each state required more state history than needed. Rick requested that Harry be tested based on the highest standards available and that several other students from all the schools in the system be tested at the same time in the same place. He pointed out that this would serve two purposes, first it would prevent Harry from being singled out, and second it would give the school system a ruler to measure the progress of the students system wide. The superintendent agreed with Rick, though with a little reluctance it seemed.

That night when Harry called Hermione to tell her what was going on she told him she too had been sent home until Monday, and Hermione was very upset about that. Rick had left as he said he had a few errands to run that pertained to the upcoming testing of Harry. Rick's first stop was at the Dursley's home where he was informed that Harry had just disappeared. When asked why they had not informed anyone of this , Vernon said it didn't seem important. Rick explained that every day Harry was missing it would cost Vernon 500 from the allotted funds and if it turned out that Vernon had been in the least responsible for Harry's disappearance then it could get very nasty and costly.

Vernon was even more upset when he found out Dudley had been sent home from school that day and was not to return until the following Monday. Dudley was to be at the main school building at 8am on that day, plus a parent had to be with him all day. Vernon got even more upset when he found out that either he or Petunia had to be there for Harry and the same person could not represent two students unless the students were brothers or sisters. Which meant that both of the adults had to be there all day and Vernon had to miss work.

Rick noticed that the evening paper had a picture of Sirius on the front and commented that it was strange that Harry's godfather was missing also. Vernon lost all color from his face and quickly suggested that maybe Sirius had taken Harry. Rick smiled very brightly, on the inside, as he agreed that was a possibility, but of course the fact that Sirius was Harry's godfather wasn't to be mentioned to anyone due to the magical protection on Harry by the person who placed Harry with the Dursleys. In fact Vernon wasn't to mention that Harry was missing to anyone else except the police.

On that Monday Harry was at Privet Dr. by 6am so he could be taken for his exam at the same time as Dudley. When Vernon asked where Harry had been Harry told him "just around" and that the person he had been with had said not to say anything else about his location. Three Dursleys and a Potter were the last to arrive at the testing and were admonished for being late by the superintendent of schools. The first hour was taken up by all the paperwork that had to be done, then the first test was started with the adults placed in the seats above the students so they could observe the testing.

Each test was allotted an hour with a 30 minute break between each test. Harry and Hermione got together after each test to compare answers and experiences, they were the only ones not stressed by the testing methods. It seemed that the school was using electronic answer sheets like those used in the US and both kids had received instruction from Lucy and Rick on this over the past few days.

The fact that Harry always talked to the same girl after each test did not go unnoticed by Vernon and he cornered Harry to ask about that girl. Harry just told him that he knew Hermione from his summer vacation and they had struck up a friendship. At the end of the day everyone was told the results would be out within a week and that all students were to return to their regular classes the next day. That was good, what was bad was the conversation that Dan heard between Vernon and the superintendent.

"Mr. Dursley, I want to thank you in person for your report. That was just the thing I needed to justify the school wide testing of students so we can compare the different schools methods. Rest assured that you will remain anonymous to all but myself. I was even able to get your son included in the testing so he would be rewarded for hard work in school, even if his grades are a little low", the superintendent was heard to say by Dan.

Vernon just acknowledged the superintendent's words and didn't say much else. Dan made sure that he told Harry to have Rick come see him that evening, but didn't tell Harry what he had heard. When Rick heard what Dan had to say, Rick told Dan that he had suspected something like that but it would end up costing Vernon a few pounds out of his bank account to cover the cost of reviewing Harry and Hermione by special tutors. Dan and Rick, who had struck up a good friendship by now, both had a laugh at that thought. Dan knew who the special tutors had been - Rick and Lucy.

The following Tuesday Rick received an official copy of Harry's results:

**Math age 9 - 99% (tied for top of year)**

**Math advanced - 98% (tied for top score)**

**Composition age 9 - 98% (tied for top of year)**

**History age 9 - 98% (tied for top of year)**

**Science age 9 - 98.9% overall (best of year)**

**Biology 98%**

**Chemistry 99.8% (top score school wide)**

**Languages 97% over all**

**English age 9 - 92%**

**Latin - 99% (top score school wide, age not considered)**

Rick was astounded by Harry's scores, he knew the boy was smart but this was amazing. He called Lucy to tell her the results and found out that Hermione had about the same scores except her Latin score was lower and so was her Chemistry score. Their scores averaged 98.15% for Harry and 98.10% for Hermione. Lucy said Emma was ecstatic with the results and wanted Rick, Lucy, and Harry over for supper to celebrate.

That afternoon Rick and Lucy were waiting when Vernon got home so they could see the reaction when he read the scores. It was not a happy day for Vernon. They had received two letters, one to Vernon and one to Petunia. Petunia's covered Harry, overall average was 98.15%. Vernon's letter covered Dudley, overall average was 59%; plus a note saying that Dudley's scores were well below par and that if they didn't come up by year's end Dudley would be retained a year. Vernon wasn't sure what "retained a year" meant, Lucy explained that Dudley would have to repeat the year and possibly have remedial classes.

Vernon's day got worse when Rick handed him the bill for Harry; it showed the 2,000 for Harry missing for 4 days, plus 5,000 for 5 days special tutoring. The next entry sent Vernon to the hospital, all funds for the year were withheld due to noncompliance with the contract he had signed regarding Harry's care. They learned later that the shock of the money lost had raised Vernon's blood pressure to dangerous levels and he stayed in the hospital for a week to get it under control.

When Dan and Emma heard about the incident they both agreed that while it was too bad about Vernon's health it served him right for causing so many problems for Harry. When Hermione heard about Vernon her only reply was "maybe he will learn his lesson, Dudley sure hasn't learned his". Harry didn't return to Privet Dr that night, since Vernon was in the hospital.

When the threesome got home they found Caesar waiting with a letter from Sirius to Harry and one for Rick. Harry's letter told him how Sirius was doing and how much he was enjoying his new wand and job. He had been hired to work for the same agency as Rick and was chasing down criminal wizards and witches. Rick's letter was actually two, one from Sirius and one from Darrell.

Darrell's letter said that after reviewing the memory of Sirius' interrogation under truth potions and repeating the interrogation under another potion, Sirius was considered cleared of all charges and offered a job working with Darrell in the MBI, fugitive division. Also, a certified copy of the interview was sent to the ICW and requested that an investigation be launched as to why Sirius had never been charged or tried. Their request had asked that Dumbledore be excluded from the investigation as it might be a conflict of interest on his part. Darrell also included a copy of the local magical paper with a very interesting headline:

**British Ministry Found to be at Fault in Sirius Black Incident**

The article went on to explain that evidence had come to light that Sirius had never been charged or tried for his supposed involvement in the deaths of James and Lily Potter eight years ago on Halloween and had been denied a chance to defend himself. This was a violation of the International Confederation of Wizards bylaws, which one Albus Dumbledore was the defacto leader of. The article also pointed out that Dumbledore was the head of the British wizengamot at the time of the incident and so should be held liable for the injustice done to Sirius. The article also pointed out that only Dumbledore knew where the young son, Harry, was presently located, or if he was even alive. It was reported that the US had offered Sirius sanctuary and political asylum. Evidence from the British Ministry's own DMLE had shown that the spell, or spells, used to kill a dozen people could not have come from Sirius' wand or direction. Since the wand of Peter Pettigrew had never been found it was assumed that the spell, or spells, had come from him or another person close to him at the time.

Rick just at down and looked concerned, this was much more than he had expected. Also, these turn of events could affect Harry in a negative way. But first Harry needed to know what was happening, Rick believed that Harry was old enough to understand.

"Harry, the three of us need to talk, no we need to include Remus in this please go fetch Remus and ask him to join us.", Rick instructed Harry.

Once Harry and Remus returned Rick handed the newspaper article to Remus first, then had it passed to Harry and Lucy in that order. Rick then explained that if things went as it was indicated this could cause Harry problems in that Dumbledore was sure to try and contact Harry.

The four of them discussed the situation and the three adults thought that Harry should go to the US and finish his schooling, he could live with Sirius (Lucy wasn't too sure about that part). Harry on the other hand didn't like it one bit, that meant that he had to leave Hermione, his only friend his own age. The subject was left in the air until later so they all could think about it. After Harry went to bed the three adults restarted the discussion, none of them wanted Harry unhappy.

"Remus, I guess it's time to explain something to you about Harry. It seems that when Voldemort killed James and Lily and then tried to kill Harry it left something of a connection between him and Harry. Harry doesn't know this and thanks to Lucy, that connection has been removed. But that is minor compared to what I believe. I believe that Voldemort will return because I believe he created at least one Horcrux , or soul anchor if you will. What this means is that he didn't die completely since part of his soul was stored somewhere else. I also suspect that Dumbledore thinks something similar and that is why he has been hiding Harry. Dumbledore also tried to set up blood wards on Privet Dr. but was not completely successful since I was able to breach them two years ago and he still doesn't know.", Rick explained quietly.

Remus just sat there quietly and appeared to be in shock before speaking, "Rick is there any way to hide Harry from Dumbledore and let Harry continue to attend school like he has been doing?"

Rick said there were ways to hide Harry from Dumbledore, one way was to obliviate Dumbledore, another was to place Harry under a Fidelius charm. Doing anything to Dumbledore was risky since he was so strong magically, the Fidelius charm would work until it was time for Harry's Hogwarts letter then it would have to be removed. Rick was sure that moving Harry to the US would keep Harry safe, but not happy. Then Remus asked why Harry had to go to Hogwarts, even if it was his, Sirius', and Harry's parents alma mater? Rick was about to explain about the prophesy when Lucy interrupted and said she might have a way to fool Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore doesn't know his wards have been replaced by yours, correct?" Rick nodded. "So, what if we replaced Harry with a stand in and allowed Dumbledore to talk with said stand-in who tells him to get lost since he has done without him so far. Then once Dumbledore leaves set the wards to exclude any wizard not keyed to them. We could reset the wards after Harry starts school, or add people to the wards", Lucy explained in an excited manner. So it was decided that unless Harry had a problem with it that was what would happen. Harry had no problem as long as Hermione could visit without problems.

The wards were set as suggested that day, but surprisingly Dumbledore never showed. The news of Sirius' innocents appeared in the Daily Prophet and it turned out Dumbledore was asked to step down from the ICW post and his post at the ministry. He was able to retain his post as headmaster at Hogwarts. There wasn't much left to do, except keep Sirius from hexing Vernon.

Things went well until just before Christmas. It was a week until Christmas break when Petunia had another fainting spell just as Lucy arrived to pick up Harry for a shopping trip. This time while waiting for the ambulance Lucy examined her and found the cause of the fainting spells. Petunia's magic level had increased and the system shock had made her pass out. Lucy thought that this could be caused by the extra magic surrounding her and Petunia's small core reacting to that magic. So while Petunia was in the hospital this time Lucy got busy brewing a special potion used in the US to suppress this type of reaction.

During the holidays Lucy got Petunia to agree to visit at Rick's house, without Vernon or Dudley, and to take the potion. The test would be having Petunia in a high magic environment and her not passing out. Petunia had no problem, and the amount of magic floating around was very high what with Hermione and Harry dueling each other - though this did scare Petunia a little; Sirius and Remus having a friendly duel, and the many diagnostic charms cast on Petunia by Lucy. Lucy told Petunia what had been happening and come to find out Petunia had had this problem before when Lily still lived at home after starting Hogwarts. As long as Petunia took a full course of potions she should be fine, one a day for two weeks then one a month as long as Harry remained in the home.

While Christmas is a time of surprises the biggest surprise that holiday was when Petunia asked if Lucy would show her how to get something magical for Harry, or was it when Petunia apologized for the way she had treated Harry to Harry's face and cried doing it. The moment was broken when Hermione asked about Vernon, Petunia said that was a lost cause. The holidays went by too fast and it was soon time to go back to school and work.

Sirius called Harry to the side and told him that he had decided to stay in the US until Harry started Hogwarts. But, he had made arrangements to come to Rick's just about every weekend to spend time with Harry, and Hermione, so they could develop a closer relationship. Sirius said he was having too much fun as the American crooks weren't as much of a challenge and he was learning new things to teach Harry. Harry wasn't too happy about that but understood that since he was in school he wouldn't be able to see Sirius very much anyway, besides the coming summer he would be back in the states and get to see Sirius more.

The rest of the year was real quiet, no real problems. Unless you count the time Dudley got petrified by one of the wards set on Harry's desk when he tried to take some candy off the desk without Harry's permission. Or the time Sirius showed up to visit without telling anyone and got shocked by the wards around the house (Sirius was now keyed to the wards after hexing Remus and Rick for forgetting to do it in the first place). At the end of the school year Harry got another certificate of achievement for his grades, this one Vernon just ignored (it was safer that way Petunia told him).

* * *

**A/N: Well Sirius is free, Dumbledore won't be causing problems for a while and Harry is growing up healthy and strong, not to mention smarter. Now if I'm lucky one of my reviewers won't guess what is next and I can surprise her and entertain all of you. I know there are several misspellings in this but I haven't found the correct spelling of several magical places or such. You can help by send corrections via PMs and I will fix it.**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


	10. Chapter 10 Bird, Cat, Rat, Bat

**Before Hogwarts**

**Bird, Bat, Cat, Rat**

_"How had the Americans gotten so much information from the ministry?"_, this was the question on Albus Dumbledore's mind, in fact it was a question many were asking themselves. That Sirius Black had escaped was puzzling enough, but he had made it to the states and they were able to do what should have done years ago, determine he was innocent of the charges._ "I was a fool not allowing the ministry to give him the kiss. But alas I really didn't think he was guilty, just mislead by Tom. Maybe I should have looked closer at the situation. Potter, Black, Lupin, and Evans were so bright, can't say the same for Pettigrew, they wouldn't have allowed Tom to sway them. It is really a surprise that they switched secret keepers and didn't tell me. I wonder who they got to do the change spell? None of them appeared to be that strong as to override my Fidelius charm. Someone did something. If the secret keeper was dead then that explains why I knew where to find them, otherwise nobody should have been able to find them without being told. Yet I knew where to find them the whole time. Did I make a mistake and make myself a keeper in addition to Black? That isn't supposed to be possible. I will have to examine this when I have time."_, Dumbledore thought to himself as he looked again at the headline.

_"What has Albus done? I still wonder how He-who-must-not-be-named found out where to find them. Black was the obvious choice for secret keeper, so they were smart to change. But using Peter Pettigrew, granted I would have never guessed anyone would make him a secret keeper. If this headline is correct then Albus is in trouble, more trouble than ever before. He was, and still is, the Chief Warlock for the wizengamot and the only thing standing in the way of the purebloods plans. Not to mention the Supreme Mugwomp for the International Confederation of Wizards. Yes this could be very bad for Albus."_; Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and transfiguration instructor and head of Gryffindor House, thought as she read the article in the Daily Prophet that was covering the article from the American newspaper.

_"Well it would seem that the old goat has been found out. He should have done something when I first told of the Dark Lord's plans. He could have saved Lily if he had only tried. All he had to do was tell them the truth, that it could have been either the Potters or the Longbottoms. But no, he knows what is best for everyone and thought that Potter was capable of defending against the Dark Lord._

_Every time Potter and his group got caught in school was because of Pettigrew being such a dunderhead. I can't wait to hear Dumbledore answer the question of where that whelp of Potter's is now. He is most likely living the life of luxury some where, being petted and pampered."_, these were the thoughts on the mind of Severus Snape, Potion Master and instructor at Hogwarts.

In a room high up in a tower of Hogwarts a group of boys were talking about an article in the paper. The article said that Sirius Black, mass murderer, had turned up in America and that the Americans had proven he wasn't a mass murderer and that he had been imprisoned for nine years without a trial. Now Black was a free man, as long as he stayed in America. And the Americans had the nerve to question Prof. Dumbledore and to ask the ICW to investigate the matter. None of the boys noticed the rat in a cage sitting behind them that usually slept all the time was very much awake.

That night two things happened that were unusual, first Prof. McGonagall wasn't at dinner as usual, second a grey tabby cat was seen running away from #4 Privet Dr. as if it had been frightened by something. When McGonagall was seen the next morning she looked different, her hair was the same color as a grey tabby cat's with the same markings. When she was asked by Dumbledore what had happened she told him she had gone to check on Harry Potter and had run afoul of an unusual ward around the house. The ward had shocked her and now her hair wouldn't change back to normal. Both professors were surprised as Dumbledore had experienced a similar ward when he went to check on Harry.

Dumbledore had tried to apparate to Privet Dr. and had been thrown back instead of arriving where he intended. Even more strange, when he contacted Mrs. Figg who lived on Privet Dr. she told him she had not been able to approach the house for two days. Every time she went by she was turned away as if someone was controlling her steps.

That weekend Dumbledore asked Snape, since he was raised in the muggle world, to go by and check an address that was the home of an underage muggle-born wizard that had not been contacted yet. Snape wasn't too happy about this as he didn't get along with youngsters well, he just barely tolerated first years.

When Snape got to within a block of the house he could feel the wards starting to charge. The first thing he noticed was a compulsion to turn and go another way, but the compulsion was weak at first. That compulsion got stronger as he approached the house. He was really having a difficult time resisting the compulsion when he felt a strong shock that pushed him back and disorientated him for a short time. He tried again and got as far as the edge of the yard and he was thrown somewhere else; he ended up in a park several blocks away. He tried to apparate to the back yard of the house and once again was thrown back to where he had started. These were some strange and powerful wards, in fact he doubted any wizard or witch could approach the house.

Once back at Hogwarts, Snape went to see Dumbledore only to find that the Headmaster had been called to the wizengamot unexpectedly. He decided to tell McGonagall instead. When he related his experiences with the wards she told him she had experienced something similar in her animagus form. If this was accidental magic then whoever lived there was very strong or had the support of a fully trained wizard or witch.

Meanwhile at the Ministry of Magic in the main courtroom Dumbledore was being grilled as to the whereabouts of one Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. And the questions weren't just from the wizengamot, they were from a representative of the ICW who told him that he had been suspended as Supreme Mugwomp pending an investigation into the Black case. The questioning continued with inquiries as to why Sirius Black had been imprisoned and never brought to trial. Dumbledore's response that he and Minister Fudge had decided that the evidence was so great that a trial wasn't needed didn't satisfy the ICW representative or the members of the wizengamot, particularly Madame Bones head of the DMLE.

When questioned about this decision, Fudge said it was all Dumbledore's idea and he went along since Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock of the wizengamot. It was Madame Longbottom who suggested that Dumbledore be removed as Chief Warlock and the wizengamot agreed, all except Fudge, Madame Umbridge, and a few of Fudge's closest friends. Then the ICW representative presented Fudge with an official sanction from the ICW and a warning that the ICW would be looking very close at the happenings in England over the next few years, and especially at Fudge. Dumbledore was notified to appear at a full ICW meeting in two weeks time to be notified of the results of their investigation of his actions.

The biggest surprise of the meeting was when Madame Bones asked for a censure of Minister Fudge for his actions in the Black case. She also made a motion that if the evidence referenced by the Americans was found to be true that the ministry owed Sirius Black a great sum of money in addition to clearing his name. There were several people opposed to this idea, the same ones who failed to vote in favor of removal of Dumbledore as Chief Warlock. The amount settled on, should Black be innocent, was 5,000,000 gallons. Part of this amount was to come from the private accounts of Dumbledore and Fudge, 1,000,000 gallons each. Both men were made to sign a draft for that amount and said draft would be presented to the Goblins to have the funds transferred to a special account along with the 3,000,000 gallons from the ministry. The moneys were to be returned to the ministry if unclaimed after 3 years, including the 2,000,000 from Fudge and Dumbledore as a fine.

Dumbledore was not in a good mood when he returned to Hogwarts late that night. He was even more surprised the next morning when he was told about Snape's experiences on Privet Dr. It seemed that the wards took longer to react to animagi than to regular people. Of course the news was in the paper the next day saying Dumbledore had been removed as Chief Warlock. That was bad enough, but the article also told of his suspension as Supreme Mugwomp. The mood in the great hall was very depressed and the gossip was soon rampant that Dumbledore was going to be removed as Headmaster after the current year.

Snape was worried, if Dumbledore was removed he would lose his job as it was only Dumbledore's protection that allowed him to stay. If Dumbledore hadn't stood up for him, Severus Snape would have been in prison at this moment along with the rest of the Death Eaters. Maybe it was time to have a talk with Lucius Malfoy just for insurance purposes should Dumbledore be sacked.

Two weeks later Dumbledore went to the ICW meeting and was told that due to evidence found that no investigation was ever made regarding Sirius Black and his supposed involvement in the deaths of James and Lily Potter and the deaths of the dozen or so people afterwards, plus his own admission of sending Mr. Black to prison without a trial, he was stripped of his position as Supreme Mugwomp of the ICW. Dumbledore's only reply was "I did it for the greater good". Dumbledore was unable to answer the question of how a 15 month old child defeated Voldemort when he himself hadn't been able to do so.

The news of Dumbledore's expulsion as Supreme Mugwomp was out before he even made it back to England. Dumbledore hoped that the board didn't remove him as Headmaster of Hogwarts, he got lucky in that he had enough support to retain that position. Snape was glad that Dumbledore would still be the headmaster, that almost guaranteed his position. McGonagall was glad that the school board didn't sack Albus, as she didn't really want to take over his position and all that paperwork.

Up in one of the towers a rat seemed to be taking an unusual interest in the Daily Prophet article that said Dumbledore had been removed as Supreme Mugwomp of the ICW after he had been removed as Chief Warlock of the wizengamot, the dark lord would be pleased if he was still around. The rat was actually Peter Pettigrew, and he had been in his animagus form for almost 10 years hiding from the only people who knew he was an animagus and the death eaters who thought he had betrayed the dark lord.

The news of Dumbledore's removal was the top item on the gossip circuit at Hogwarts when it came out in the Daily Prophet. Everyone wondered if he would had to go to prison or if they, the ministry and the ICW, would just watch him closely. Dumbledore made the announcement at supper that night that he had retained his headmaster position at Hogwarts. Dumbledore went on to say that end of year exams were coming up and he wished each of the students the best of luck.

The term ended a couple of weeks later and all the students were headed home for the summer, and the teachers were getting ready for their holidays too. The only ones who wouldn't be leaving were Dumbledore and Hagrid, the grounds keeper, as both lived at Hogwarts year round. Even Snape would leave for a few weeks to tend to personal business before coming back to re-supply the hospital wing with replacement potions. Albus didn't think he would enjoy this break as much as he had in the past, what with losing his positions with the wizengamot and the ICW.

* * *

**A/N: Now we know what was happening elsewhere and what happened to Dumbledore and party.**

**As a warning I will play with the timeline a little to get things to happen as I need them to occur. There will be horcrux in this, even if I don't get a chance to do all seven books (of course things will have to change to compensate for Harry knowing about magic).**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


	11. Chapter 11 Summer 3a

**Before Hogwarts**

**Summer 3 (age 10) part 1**

Rick had told Harry and Hermione that they would spend the first week of summer vacation at home and then come to his house for the summer. The reason for this was so he could evaluate what Dumbledore did once summer arrived and Dumbledore had more time to interact with Harry, as Hogwarts would be out also. What Rick didn't tell was that Sirius was coming back to England for the summer and would be teaching the kids transfiguration while Remus taught charms, Rick would teach defense (with help from Sirius), and Lucy would handle potions and herbology.

Sirius arrived on Thursday before they were to pick Harry and Hermione up on Friday. Sirius said that Rick, Remus, Lucy and himself needed to talk as he had some news for them.

"I had the chance to speak with the Headmistress at Peak's School in America and she has offered to let Harry and Hermione enroll for their summer school session if they are interested. This session only runs for a month but the students get the equivalent of a year's credit. The only cost would be the transport from here to there. I wanted to get the opinion of the three of you before mentioning it to the kids, so what do you think?", Sirius asked with a smile.

The four talked this idea over for several minutes before it was decided to let the kids decide if they were interested, it would take some of the pressure off the others as far as being instructors. The next day Sirius picked Harry up, and had a few words with Vernon and Petunia, while Lucy picked Hermione up. The two kids were happy to see each other, and the adults, and were soon talking about school and their friends and such. It was after supper that Harry and Hermione were told about the summer school program that was available.

"Harry, Hermione, I have come across a special opportunity for the two of you. In the course of my job in the states I ran into the headmistress of the Peak's School. After I found and fixed a problem she had at school she offered to enroll the two of you for a special summer session. The session runs for 30 days, but you get a year's worth of credit. They don't only cover magical but non-magical education, you would be able to skip a year of non-magical school once the session was over. Also, if you wanted to you could test out of your first year of magical school afterwards.

Peak's School makes use of time compression so that 30 days would be 300 days worth of schooling and you would still have about 45 days to relax for the summer and to have fun. The four of us talked this over and decided that you two would have to make the decision since it takes time away from your fun and vacation. I'm sure you have questions and I will try to answer them, anything I can't we have to ask the headmistress. So, ask your questions", Sirius explained to both kids.

Hermione had the first question, "What's time compression?". Sirius explained that the session lasted 30 "regular" days, but those days were each 10 days long inside the school; and that while their minds and cores would be 300 days older their bodies would only age 30 days. Both kids had a few questions but Sirius was able to answer them to their satisfaction. The final thought was it wouldn't hurt to go check it out, Dan and Emma were to be invited for a weekend trip also.

The following weekend the group made the trip to the states and to the school. They were met at the airport by one of the instructors and guided to the school via portkey from a special room at the airport. Once at the school they were shown to the office of the headmistress, Alana Grimmore, and introductions were made. Alana appeared to be about the same age as the adults, mid-thirties to mid-forties, about 5' 7" tall with bright red hair and a not too bad body build.

"Well, now I 'm sure that there are several questions you have for me and I will try to answer them after the usual 'canned' speech that we use for all prospective students and parents. Peaks School of Mystical Application is only about 10 years old and we had already gotten a reputation as one of the best small schools in the states. Our students are divided into four groups or houses. Those houses are based on the four elementals, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. We decide your house by having you hold a wand that has been imbued by an elemental of each division, whichever wand had the strongest reaction shows to which house you belong. Our school accepts students starting at age six, but the magical instruction doesn't really start until age 10 or 11. The first few years are basic education only as required by the government for all children under the age of 16. When a child reaches the age of 10 we add the classes that will benefit them the most as far as magical control. At age 11 they start the real magical education, but we still require that they get their full non-magical education as well. We instruct in basic magical usage and also in some of the local Indian rituals. We have several electives courses such as introduction to wand and staff construction, construction and use of other focus items, and one of our most popular electives is spell crafting - but that is a junior and senior elective. We are privileged to have a member of the International Potion Master's Guild as our potion instructor so we can offer advanced potion instruction up to the Master's level.

The only area we are weak in right now is Defense as our primary instructor has retired and his replacement won't be available until September, but we hope to get a few people from the MBI to come in and do the classes this summer. As well as being the headmistress, I am also the transfiguration instructor, for the summer session, as I hold a Master certification from the ICW. Now as to your questions, please ask any that come to mind.", Alana explained with a smile.

The first question was from Hermione and she wanted more information on the "time compression" during the summer session. Alana went into very detailed information, but made it very understandable even to Dan and Emma. Harry asked if they had a Quidditch team during the summer; but Alana said they only had inter-house teams, but sometimes they carried over to the regular season team that played other schools. During the summer anyone could tryout, except first years as they usually didn't have the broom skills to play well and be safe. Harry looked disappointed at this situation, as did Hermione.

The group talked for about an hour with Alana before she told them that the kids would have to take several tests to see where they stood academically both in non-magic and magical education so their classes could be adjusted to fit them. Alana explained that first year magical students were encouraged to learn wandless magic as it was the most common since they had been doing that since birth. After all, wasn't that just "accidental" magic? Alana went to a shelf and returned with a wooden box that when opened revealed four wands laying on velvet.

"These are the sorting wands, I ask that each child pick one that appeals to them and give it a wave. They then see if the wand responds to them, if not then they choose another one until they have tried all four and shown which elemental they are closest. Hermione, ladies first", Alana said.

Hermione followed the instructions and held her hand over each wand to see which caught her attention. The first wand that "called" to her had what appeared to be a drop of water on it. When she picked it up it felt cool and moist; when she waved it nothing happened. The next wand she chose had a flame on it, this one produced a small flame when waved; next the one with several wavy lines on it, it produced a whirlwind that scattered all the papers in Alana's office. The last wand had a small piece of rock embedded in the handle and it produced no reaction when waved.

"Well done Hermione, it would appear that you are more attuned to the elemental air, with slight attunement to fire", Alana told Hermione.

Next Harry tried the wands, the first one he chose was fire. He waved the wand and a small being made up of fire appeared and bowed towards him then disappeared. Next, after being told to go on, he picked up the one with the water drop and got a room full of fog. Next, the one with the wavy lines produced a small whirlwind that hovered just in front of him. The last wand, the one with the rock in the handle, produced several flowering plants that made the room smell like springtime.

"Amazing, I've never seen one so young produce a fire elemental, not to mention the small air elemental also. Harry you are very much attuned to fire, but you seem to have an affinity for all the elementals. I have heard of only one other who had a connection to all four and that was Merlin. History tells us that his primary was air, but he could use the other three on occasion. Harry I am very impressed with your talents and look forward to having you as a student here", Alana expressed with happiness and wonderment.

Sirius, who had been quiet all this time, finally spoke and said he might know where Alana could find an instructor for Defense. When questioned Sirius suggested that Remus would be excellent at that position. Remus of course said that wouldn't be a good idea and Sirius knew why. Alana asked if she and Remus could talk privately for a few minutes and had an elf show the rest to the great hall for the evening meal. When Alana and Remus joined them a short while later, Remus was smiling and so was Alana.

"Well, I had a hard time doing it but Sirius was correct in his suggestion of Remus as Defense instructor and he has agreed to do it if Harry and Hermione are students during the summer session. So, what do you two have to say; does Remus have a job for the summer or not?", Alana asked Harry and Hermione.

The two kids looked at each other and then each looked at their adults, the Grangers just nodded their heads and Hermione grinned. Rick, Lucy, and Sirius turned to Remus and asked if he had his lessons planned yet since he would be responsible for two very smart kids. After the meal, Alana arranged for quarters for the group and said that classes started the following Monday, as today was Friday, and they needed to get the materials the kids would need for classes. Alana told them that when they went to get the school robes to tell them that Harry was in Fire and Hermione was in Air and the shop would get them fixed up correctly (that way nobody would have to transfigure the robes later to the correct house.)

The next two days were spent getting Harry and Hermione their supplies, robes, paper and pens, and whatever else they needed. Of course Sirius kept at Remus about his private talk with Alana and the fact they both were smiling when they joined the rest. Remus just took it and never said much about it, just that Alana had overcome his objections.

* * *

**A/N: Well, sorry for the wait for this chapter but I needed to get everything straightened out in my head here. Before any of you ask, NO Harry will not be all powerful - he will just have an edge in some things :)**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


	12. Chapter 12 Summer 3b

**Before Hogwarts**

**Summer 3 (age 10) part 2**

Rick was the first to notice that wands were listed as optional and not required for school at Peaks. But it was Remus who noticed that only familiars were allowed and not pets. Lucy noticed that as far as potion supplies went they required only top of the line equipment and no ingredients were listed as required. Lucy also noted that the school required that only certain types or brands of brooms were allowed, and first years had to get approval from their head of house before using their own brooms. Luckily Harry and Hermione's brooms were listed as allowed, with approval after their flying lessons. Lucy, Rick, and Remus were surprised when they saw the results of the tests done, Harry and Hermione were only deficient in their history due to being educated in Britain and not America.

It was the first official meal as students for Harry and Hermione, and they weren't real happy that they had to sit at different tables. Harry felt out of place in his flame red robes, while Hermione looked nice in her sky blue robes. The other two tables wore dark blue robes for water and brown robes for earth. The robes were considered as formal ones while their everyday robes were black and had a patch on the left upper chest showing their houses. Harry had been surprised when he saw that his patch had a bar on three sides that represented the other three houses, the sky blue bar was larger than the other two. Hermione had her patch and it only had a small red bar attached, no dark blue or brown bars on hers.

The meal started with the announcements and introductions of the new teachers, including Remus who wore brown robes with a strange patch on the sleeve. Alana was the only person who didn't wear a house color, her robes were emerald green with black trim.

"Welcome to this the third special summer session. As some of you will notice Mr. Tannenbaulm is not with us tonight, that is because he has decided to retire after the last school year to enjoy his family and great grandchildren. I want to welcome his summer replacement Remus Lupin who has graciously offered to cover the summer session since the regular replacement instructor can't be here until September. You will also notice that Mrs. Cutty is missing, she needed time off to see her family so you will be stuck with myself as your transfiguration instructor for the summer.

Now, we have several new faces with us tonight as students and I ask that you older students take them under your wing and make sure they don't get lost and receive the same help, or better, that you have received in the past. All of these new faces have been assigned to their houses and I expect those houses to make them welcome. As most of you know we very rarely sit just by house except on special occasions, so starting in the morning we will revert back to open seating. Please try and leave the larger tables for the larger groups and remember there must be at least three people at a table. And as a reminder, pranking the teachers is allowed and I request you hold off with your little jokes for the first two weeks to let the new people get used to us in a civilized manor. Now let us partake of this wonderful meal", Alana said as the food appeared on the tables.

After the meal there was about 30 minutes for everyone to say hello to friends in other houses before the head student of each house called for the new people to come along to the dorms. Once inside the dorms, the head of each house met with all the students of that house and welcomed them to their house. House rules were explained and the new people were told that the boys dorm rooms were on the left and the girls on the right. All of the new people were to meet with the head of house the next morning to receive their class schedules, the rest would be waiting for returning students when they woke up.

Harry was surprised when he found he had a room all to himself as his roommate had not shown up for classes due to a family emergency. The room contained a queen-size bed, a desk, and a wardrobe for each of the two students assigned to the room. Harry pulled his PJs out and went to the bathroom to do his nightly routine of relieving, showering and brushing. He was surprised to see several large tubs in use by older students.

When he returned to his room all of his stuff had been unpacked and put away, his bed was turned down, and there was a note on his pillow telling him to be sure and set a locking password on his door before retiring for the night. It took Harry a few minutes to come up with a password, he finally decided on "Padfoot" to honor his godfather.

Meanwhile in the Air House Hermione was doing similar things, getting her PJs, going to the bathroom, and setting her password, only she had to set it with her roommate's agreement - they decided on "Morning Glory". Hermione's roommate was named Rose and she was a second year student so she was able to give Hermione several tips about the house and the school.

Harry was up at 530 the next morning and by 545 was outside to do his morning run. Hermione arrived just a few minutes afterwards to join him. Since they weren't as familiar with the campus they only ran about two miles before going back inside to shower and go to breakfast. Hermione was the first to arrive in the dinning hall and was surprised to find breakfast was buffet style and instead of four long tables there were several smaller tables set for four or six or more students. She had just picked up a plate when Harry came in. Hermione said she would find them a place to sit and save Harry a seat.

The two were about halfway finished when Rose stopped by to remind Hermione about getting her schedule from their head of house. Soon afterwards two more students came up and asked if they could join Harry and Hermione. It turned out they were first time students also and felt lost. The girl, Terri, was in the same house as Hermione and the boy, Tom, was in Water. Tom tried to make a joke by saying he had two "air heads" and a "hot head" sitting with him. The joke didn't go over too well, so Tom said he was sorry.

The foursome talked for a little while then it was time to go see their heads of house and get their class schedule. It turned out that since the amount of students was so small most of the classes were combined to include all four houses so Harry and Hermione would be in the same classes together. Their first class was Herbology and as soon as they got to the class they were told to have a seat and be quiet. This class started out very boring and slow as they were introduced to some of the tools they would be using and were told that the Herbology classes were responsible for supplying the herbal ingredients used in potions.

After Herbology they had 15 minutes to get to their next class which was transfiguration. When they entered the classroom they were surprised to see a very large black dog lying on the floor beside the teacher's desk. Harry recognized the dog as Sirius in his animagus form and decided to have some fun. As soon as the class started Harry raised his hand and asked Alana if the dog shouldn't be on a leash. This got a growl out of the dog when Alana conjured a leash and collar for the dog. Harry knew how much Sirius hated collars and leashes. When Alana asked if anyone had an idea as to why there was a dog in class Hermione raised her hand and answered to show what was possible with transfiguration if you were an animagus. This got her house awarded 10 points. Harry got another 10 points when he silently cast the animagus reversal spell and Sirius was left lying on the floor with his collar still in place.

Their first 45 minutes were spent being introduced to Sirius and then a brief introduction to the basic principles of transfiguration. Then they were told to turn a match into a pin. Harry beat Hermione by about 10 seconds, so they both got awarded points for being first. When the class was over Harry and Hermione were asked to stay behind for a few minutes to speak with Alana.

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter, you both surprised me by how quickly you accomplished your task and how willing you both were to help the others. I noticed that neither of you used a wand to transfigure your matches. I assume that you have had some previous instruction in transfiguration. It would be helpful if I knew what else you can do, so as not to bore you in class", Alana told them.

Harry and Hermione both told her what they had done before as far as transfiguration and that Remus and Sirius and Rick had taught them a few things, plus charms and potions. Alana told them to work hard and not to show off too much. She then said it was funny how Harry had gotten her to put a collar on Sirius just before forcing him to change back.

Harry and Hermione just made it to their next class, Charms, before the bell sounded. The instructor called the roll and then introduced them to charms and said their task that day was to attempt the levitation charm. He demonstrated the charm then emphasized the wand motion, swish and flick, and had them practice for a few minutes before handing out feathers. Hermione's feather just rose up from the table and floated about a foot above the top almost as soon as the teacher placed it down. Harry's feather soared up and then around the room and back to him. The teacher was overjoyed with their accomplishments and awarded them both points. The teacher was even more impressed when he noticed Harry doing this without a wand or verbal incantation. When both Harry and Hermione went to help some of the others the teacher thought he had a pair of ringers in class, so he asked the two to stay after class.

After explaining what they had been taught by Rick, Lucy, and Remus their teacher understood and asked if both of them would be interested in helping out as assistants at times. Both Harry and Hermione said they would help any way they could. Harry and Hermione headed to lunch and soon found Tom and Rose who had saved them a seat. Rose was all excited as she had made her feather float just before the class ended, with help from Hermione. Tom didn't understand what the big thing was as he hadn't been in that class. He demonstrated the charm using his wand and levitating one of the glasses off the table. Rose just said that Harry did it without a wand and without saying anything. Tom didn't believe this until Harry floated Tom up about 5 feet off his chair and spun him around then lowered him back to his seat.

One of the senior students came over and was going to take points until the charms instructor came up and asked if the senior student could do the same thing without a wand? The student admitted he couldn't, at least not safely. Harry was given 10 points for a perfect demonstration of a wandless and silent levitation charm. After the teacher left the senior student asked if Harry would show him how to do that also. Harry told him to catch him later and he would be glad to show him, but right now he needed to eat and get to class. The senior student said he understood and if Harry ever needed help with anything to ask and he would be glad to help out.

After lunch Harry, and all the rest of the first years, had flying lessons. When they got out to the pitch they were told to line up beside a broom and to form two rows facing each other. Harry noticed that the brooms were not very new and some had bent or broken straws. Harry and Hermione lined up by the best looking brooms and were facing each other. The instructor told everyone to hold their right hand out over their broom and say the command "UP". Harry's broom jumped to his hand even before the instructor finished speaking, Hermione's once again just laid there and quivered. When Hermione told the instructor her broom appeared to be faulty the instructor docked her points and told her maybe she wasn't much of a witch after all.

Harry walked over and gave Hermione his broom and told her to try it again. The broom went up on command just as it was supposed to do, Harry then tried with the broom that Hermione had at first and it just quivered. The instructor tried to dock Harry points but Hermione asked the instructor to show them how it was done with the same broom. The instructor said if he got the broom to rise up then both Harry and Hermione would lose 30 points each. The instructor held his hand over the broom and commanded it to rise, the broom didn't even quiver.

After restoring the points and replacing the broom they were instructed to mount their brooms and hover. Everything was going well until one of the girls kicked off too hard and went soaring into the sky, with the instructor chasing her but not able to catch her. Harry and Hermione both pulled out their personal brooms, unshrinking them and took flight. Hermione went after the girl while Harry had noticed that the instructor was in trouble also, his broom was bucking like a wild horse and the instructor was just holding on for life. Hermione caught up to the girl and coached her down to the ground. Harry meanwhile had a bigger problem, the instructor was thrown off the broom and was falling towards the ground from about 500 feet.

Harry didn't even think, he just did the end-over and dove to catch the instructor. All the students on the ground thought they were about to see the instructor go splat when he stopped in midair and Harry pulled up sharply and caught him. After the instructor was back on the ground he asked where Harry and Hermione had gotten the brooms as they didn't look like school brooms. Both said they had brought their own brooms and were waiting for permission to use them. The instructor pulled out two permission slips, filled them out (after asking for their names), and signed them cautioning them to have them countersigned by their head of house.

"Well, you have all just witnessed what can happen if you don't have proper training and proper equipment. These two students have more training than most of the Quidditch team and just showed what can be accomplished with practice and hard work. I am going to ask Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger to show us all what type of flyers they are", the instructor said with very little emotion.

Harry and Hermione both smiled and took off. As they were rising up Harry asked if Hermione wanted to play aerial catch. Hermione said only if she could throw first, Harry just grinned as Hermione conjured a few orange golf balls and threw one as high as she could. The ball was halfway to the ground before Harry started after it. He dove straight down, caught the ball, and pulled up about 5 feet off the ground to level flight. Harry tossed the ball to Tom and said to hold on to it. Just as Harry started back up Hermione threw two balls at once, Harry caught both of them.

Harry accio a soccer ball and he and Hermione played catch as they sped down the pitch like a pair of chasers weaving across each others path to pass the ball. Once Hermione shot the ball through the hoop Harry caught it before it hit the ground and the two of them headed towards the group, with both Harry and Hermione flying upside down at times. When they landed the instructor just shook his head and told the two they were excused from all future flying classes unless they wanted to help the others. He then conjured two badges saying "Assistant Flying Instructor" and handed them to Harry and Hermione saying "if anyone gives you grief about them have them see me or the headmistress".

Harry and Hermione both spent the rest of the class helping the other students. As they were going back to the main building the instructor asked if either of them were interested in being on the Quidditch teams, both said they hoped to but first years weren't allowed. The instructor told them to have their head of house to speak with him and he would clear both of them to play, if they got through tryouts.

The next class was Defense and Remus kept the class entertained and interested for the whole hour, Harry and Hermione had agreed to not show off in Remus' class as they had enough attention already. Defense was their last class for the day and Remus asked them to stay behind. After all the other students were gone Remus asked how they were doing and what they thought about the school. Both Harry and Hermione said they were having fun and were waiting for the teachers to get to something they hadn't covered before. Remus told them that would come soon as right now they were covering the basics.

Just as they finished their supper Harry and Hermione were called to the headmistress' office. When they arrived they were surprised to see Remus, the charms instructor, and the flying instructor waiting for them in addition to the headmistress and their heads of house. The heads of house didn't look very happy and it was soon made clear as to why.

"Ms. Granger and Mr. Potter, I have a request to make of the two of you. I would like for you to retest as to what house you should be included. Both of your heads of house have requested that the two of you be in the same house and both want you in their house, the only head who has not ask this is the head of earth house. But she is very particular as to who is in her house and doesn't feel people who are strong in other elementals should be included", Alana said.

Harry asked if they could speak to each other first, in private. The two talked quietly for a few minutes and then said they were ready to retest if that was what needed to be done. Hermione went first, she took the water wand first and once again nothing happened. Next she tried the earth wand, still nothing. Now for the fire wand, when she waved it this time it was not the small flame but a small fireball that came out, only to be absorbed by Harry when he held out his hand to it. Next was the wand of air, this time Hermione didn't get a whirlwind; she got an air elemental the same size as herself. Her head of house said that showed she belonged in his house.

Now it was Harry's turn. He asked which wand they wanted him to try first. Alana asked him to do the earth wand first as she liked the flowers he had produced the last time. No flowers, but a pile of dirt and rocks that formed up into a wall around Harry until he asked it to leave, after thanking the wall first. Alana had her mouth open, as did the rest of the adults there. Alana handed him the water wand and this time there was a nice rainstorm that got everyone wet, except Harry. He was handed the air wand and suddenly everyone was dry and a small airy form stood beside Harry, then the form reached over and took the "hand" of Hermione's elemental then shook Hermione's hand. The head of Hermione's house said that showed that Harry belonged in his house.

Alana very carefully handed Harry the fire wand, once again a fire elemental appeared. But this time it was larger than before. The fire elemental saw the two air elementals and reached out and shook their hands before standing beside Harry with his "arms" crossed. Harry's head of house just grinned at his fellow heads and said that any 10 year old who could call an elemental of that size should be in whatever house he wanted and if anyone objected then they should speak with Harry's two elementals. Harry noticed that his air elemental was fading and reached out to say thanks, as soon as they touched the air elemental grew more solid and stood up straighter.

Hermione took her lead from Harry and reached out to her air elemental, once again the elemental grew more solid. Hermione got a surprised look on her face and turned to the elemental and asked "Did you just speak to me in my head"? The elemental nodded in reply. Hermione then turned to the rest of the adults, "My new friend says she must return now but she wanted to thank you for allowing her to visit". The elemental disappeared.

Harry turned back to his air elemental, he was more used to the mind speak now, and soon told the adults the same thing. Just before the elemental faded out he bowed towards Hermione who got another surprised look on her face, "He talked to me too, he said that my elemental and he are brother and sister and that as soon as Harry and I give them names we can call either of them, but he responds mostly to Harry".

There were six open mouths in the room and they all belonged to adults. Alana was the first to recover and told both Harry and Hermione that it was up to them as to which house they stayed in, but she strongly suggested Hermione stay where she was since she had called her own elemental. Harry on the other hand could transfer to her house if he liked as he called two elementals, one from each house. Harry told them they had decided to stay where they were before they even retested. Now that Hermione had called her elemental she could teach him about air elementals while his head of house taught him about fire elementals, which he would share with Hermione. Alana told everyone that that was the end of the discussion as to where Harry and Hermione stayed.

Harry turned to his fire elemental, after a few seconds Harry said, "I would like to introduce my fire elemental, Firebeard. I asked if that name suited him and he likes it. If my air elemental agrees then he will be call Windford, but I will have to ask him the next time he appears".

Alana smiled and then told Harry and Hermione that each time they called their elemental it got stronger, Firebeard nodded, and that for elementals it was concidered a great honor to be called and it gave them much prestige in their realm, once again Firebeard nodded. Harry turned to Firebeard and thanked him for coming and told him he could return to his realm whenever he felt the need and that he felt honored by Firebeard's friendship. The temperature in the room increased by 20 degrees when Firebeard glowed even brighter, smiled and faded away. The badge on Harry's robes glowed and he noticed that the sky blue stripe was gone, but the other bars were slightly larger. Hermione's badge glowed and now her red bar was larger, both noticed that their house symbols had an "E" overlying them and Harry had a second badge showing the House of Air with an "E". Alana explained that the "E" indicated that they had been able to call a fully corporal elemental.

"Now that all the excitement is over, I would like to ask each of the heads to sign off on Harry and Hermione's permission slips and that they be allowed to assist me with all flying classes. The Headmistress is already aware of this but you heads should be also, this afternoon we had an incident during my class of a run-away broom and a malfunctioning broom, mine. If it wasn't for the actions of Mr. Potter I could have died when the broom I was using malfunctioned and threw me off. Mr. Potter, using his personal broom, caught me in midair and transported me to the ground. Ms. Granger was rescuing another student from a run-away broom while this was going on. I asked the two of them to show what they could do on their brooms and the class and I witnessed a most fascinating display of flying ability. If either of these two want to try out for their house team then I would suggest that you heads allow them. If all the students flew as well I would be out of a job except for games. All of you know me, except for Mr. Lupin, and you know I don't praise students very often, but these two deserve it", the flying instructor said with great emotion.

When the meeting was over Harry and Hermione both had their head of house signature, plus Alana's, on their permission slips (Remus signed for both as guardian). Each student had also received 60 points for their house from the teachers. Both were escorted to their houses by their heads.

The next morning, after their run, Harry and Hermione met up with Rose and Tom at breakfast. Terri and Tom had Magical History first that day while Harry and Hermione had potions first, and it was a double class. Harry wondered why Terri had a different schedule than Hermione and was told that the potion instructor limited his class and she was scheduled later in the day. When they got to class Harry told Hermione that Windford like his name and agreed to it, after which Harry had to rearrange his room due to the whirlwind caused by Windford in his excitement.

Potions went by fairly well, they were told to brew the boil removal potion that both Harry and Hermione had done before and they both got top marks for their potions. Next they had Magical History followed by a meeting with their heads to learn about their respective house elementals. During lunch Hermione told Harry that once their air elementals got big enough they would be able to fly without brooms. Harry burst her bubble when he said that the elementals had to be twice their size first, and that his fire elemental had told him about this too. "But just think Hermione, you will be able to do it first since you are smaller than me. Remember, I out weigh you by 20 pounds according to Lucy. Also, I don't know if your head told you but if you ask your elemental they can tell you how long they have to rest before returning to you. Firebeard told me the first time he needed three hours before he could return, now it is down to two hours. Also, the more you call them the stronger they get and the longer they can stay. But as I found out last night it isn't good when an air elemental gets excited inside your bedroom."

"If I had known that then I would have called mine back sooner. But of course you don't have a roommate to disturb. But Windy, that is spelled with an 'I', loved her name and said she might not be able to carry me now but she can fly beside me while I'm on my broom and it still helps her to get stronger. She also told me that her adults want our permission to visit us, we can't call them but we can invite them to come the next time we call our elementals. That way the whole family gets more power and prestige in their realm. My head even confirmed this but said it was very unusual and rare to have two elementals from the same group be called by people who know each other", Hermione replied.

Terri and Tom were both listening and both asked at the same time if it was true that they could call an elemental, or in Harry's case two elementals. Hermione told the two friends that it was true and that she had only called hers for the first time last night in the Headmistress' office, but Harry had called one the first time. It was later that Harry told Hermione that she needed to practice calling Windy without using the elemental wand so she could call her when needed. Hermione admitted that she had used the elemental wand to summon Windy while meeting with her head. Harry told her what Firebeard had told him about calling him, that it got easier with practice and gave more strength and prestige when the wizard or witch called without the elemental wand. After lunch Harry had Magical Creatures and was able to pet a male unicorn which surprised both himself and the instructor since unicorns usually only let females approach them, much less touch them.

It was about two weeks later while Harry and Hermione were doing their morning run that Hermione was able to call Windy using her own wand. Both Hermione and Windy were very happy about this, and even happier when Harry called Windford to join them. Harry told Hermione that both Windford and Firebeard only needed an hour of rest between summoning and that was the minimum amount of time. Windy said she still needed three hours as it had taken Hermione longer to be able to call her, but the time would drop faster now that Hermione could call without the elemental wand. Both Harry and Hermione were surprised when two full sized air elementals suddenly appeared and were introduced as the adults in charge of Windford and Windy. The two, Windford and Windy, had to be go betweens for their adults and Harry and Hermione. Windy explained that her witch had been able to call her without the elemental wand, and Windford explained that his wizard had been doing it for even longer.

Both adults were surprised when Harry held out his hand towards the large male and thanked him for allowing Windford to come and be his friend and that both adults were welcome to visit any time they had time. When the male took Harry's hand two things happened, one the adult grew more solid and two, Harry glowed briefly and there was a surge of magical energy and Harry was able to hear the male in his head.

Hermione, not to be out done, tried the same thing with the female. Once again two things happened, the female got more solid and Hermione glowed and passed out. The large male explained that Hermione had given too much energy to the female and depleted herself. The female looked sad, Harry asked if one of the adults could transport Hermione to the hospital wing so she could be treated. The female picked Hermione up and flew to the hospital wing followed by the male with Harry. Once in the hospital Harry explained to Lucy what had happened and that it was an accident.

Lucy looked at the large female and then thanked her for taking care of Hermione and bringing Hermione to be treated so quickly. After checking Hermione Lucy turned to the two elementals and thanked them again and offered her own hand. The female carefully took Lucy's hand and Lucy glowed, but did not fall down. "Harry, she says we are joined now. What does that mean?", Lucy asked. Harry didn't know but the large female soon explained to Lucy that she could now call forth the female just as Hermione called Windy, with practice. Lucy grinned and Harry smiled just as Alana walked in and asked what was going on.

Harry stammered through the explanations and Alana's only response was life around Harry and Hermione was never dull. Alana then congratulated Lucy for joining with an air elemental, this was unusual for someone who had not been trained to call an elemental; and now Lucy had to give the female a name. Lucy and the female looked at each other for a few minutes then Lucy said, "I would like to introduce my new friend Windermere the air elemental".

Windy was weak, she needed to be released but only her witch could release her and Hermione was still out cold. Windford explained this to Harry who got worried, he turned to Alana. "Headmistress, Windy needs to be released but only Hermione can do that. Is there anything that you can do to help? Windford says if she isn't released soon she may fade away forever", Harry pleaded.

Alana told him that if he was able to call Windy he might be able to release her. Harry turned to Windy and said, "Windy you once told me I could call if I needed you, I give you leave to depart and rest for I would not have anything happen to my friend's friend. If I can't release you may I give you some of my energy to sustain you a little longer?" and Harry held out his hand to Windy. When she touched Harry's hand Harry glowed and Windy smiled and then faded away. Windford told Harry that Windy had returned to their realm to rest and he needed to go also. Harry told Windford that if at anytime Hermione released him he had leave to depart to save himself but to go rest so they could spend time together later.

It was a loud booming voice that everyone heard, "**Human wizard, you have done two things this day that will never be forgotten by the elemental of the air. You have made my mate happy and bound her to one of your own, but most of all you have shown compassion for an elemental and offered your own energy to save that elemental. This act shall be given to she that rules our realm and she will be grateful towards you. You have made another friend today in the realm of air**". Then both adult elementals faded out.

It was a few days later before Hermione was strong enough to summon Windy. Once Windy appeared she was twice the size she had been before. She was happy to see that her witch was strong enough to call her again. Hermione did as Harry had done and gave Windy permission to be released by Harry if the need arose again in the future. Then Windy explained why she had grown so quickly. It was because of the transfer of energy from Harry that allowed her to grow, plus the prestige she received for being summoned by such a strong witch and wizard. In fact now when Hermione called there were many young elementals who wanted to answer but couldn't as Hermione was her witch!

School would be out in three weeks and both Harry and Hermione were looking forward to seeing their adults, and parents in Hermione's case. But at the same time they didn't want to leave their friends. Harry and Hermione were doing their morning run accompanied by three elementals, two of air and one of fire, when Hermione was lifted off the ground and started flying through the air surrounded by Windy. This was the first time for Hermione and at first she was scared, but as she got used to it she had a ball. That is until Harry flew past her surrounded by both of his elementals and she felt the hot blast from his passing.

When they landed Hermione was embarrassed to discover that the blast of hot air was enough to burn away her outer layer of clothes and she was left with only her underwear. Windy became mostly solid around her and tried to keep her covered while Hermione yelled at Harry. Once she was finished yelling, Hermione started laughing as she realized that her elemental had kept Harry from seeing anything he shouldn't have seen. "Harry if you're going to do that again we need to find a way to protect my clothes, if Windy hadn't been here I would have died of embarrassment. What if I blew by you and took your clothes with me?", Hermione exclaimed rather loudly.

"Mione, you have to admit it was funny; once we got back on the ground and Windy covered you up. But you are right we need to come up with a way to protect you from fire; Firebeard protects me by surrounding me. Any flame is absorbed by him and makes him stronger, temporarily. Windford tells me that Windy can do something similar to protect you unless the fire is too much. You will feel the heat but she should be able to protect you for a very short period of time. She can also, with practice, allow you to stay underwater for up to an hour before she would have to surface to exchange the air inside. I know as Windford has done that for me before.", Harry replied.

Hermione got some strange looks when she went back to her dorm wearing what appeared to be a cloud for clothes. Her roommate, Rose, laughed so hard she fell down when Hermione told her what had happened. Rose suggested she learn the flame retardant charm that mothers used to protect their babies. When Hermione said she hadn't heard of that charm Rose was curious why her mother hadn't taught her that one. Hermione explained she was muggle born, Rose said "HUH?". Hermione explained that her parents weren't magical. That was when Hermione learned that Rose was born of non-magical parents also and had thought Hermione was pure magical since she did so well in her studies. Rose taught Hermione the charm to protect her clothes but warned her that it wouldn't protect her skin from fire.

Harry and Hermione took top honors for their year, but House of Fire took the school award. House of air was behind by 20 points due to point loss by a couple of pranksters. The two boys weren't very welcome in the house right now and Hermione had even help punish them by having Windy scatter all their papers all over the dorm, along with their clothes. When the boys complained, loudly, to Hermione she just told them that was what happened when you made an air elemental upset. Just think what a full grown elemental could do to them. Both boys got real quiet real fast.

Both Harry and Hermione had made their house teams, and the game between the two houses was one for the records. Hermione scored two goals before Harry caught the snitch 10 minutes into the game. That was listed as the shortest game in school history. Both Harry and Hermione had laughed in private about the game; it seemed that both had used their air elementals to help them gain more speed. Harry was ready to turn himself in until Hermione said she cheated too. They did tell Remus, who told everyone once school was out. Harry and Hermione had enjoyed the summer session and talked about maybe going to a regular session instead of going back to public school at home.

* * *

**A/N: Well there you have the second part of the summer, now only the last part left to write (and it will be shorter than this). Tell me what you think about the two going to Peaks instead of public school, but make it fast as the next chapter won't take long (I hope) to write.**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


	13. Chapter 13 Summer 3c

**Before Hogwarts**

**Summer 3 (age 10) part 3**

"_School would be finished at the end of the week_", Harry thought as he lay in the bed just before going to sleep. He had just thought of a question that he wanted to ask his Head of House about elementals, "What spells, if any, worked on elementals"? Harry had tried a few on his and none of them worked, in fact the only one that had any effect was the **incendio** on Firebeard and it made him stronger for a few minutes. Harry had also found that he could block both his elementals from his mind, but it made them weaker when he did this if he kept it up for more than a few minutes.

Finally the last day came, Harry, Hermione, Tom, and Terri enjoyed the last meal of the term together. They promised each other to keep in touch as Harry and Hermione didn't know if they would come back to Peaks or not. The Headmistress stood and made the end-of-term announcements, she then asked Harry to come forward. Once Harry was at the head table Alana said that it was expected for first year magical studies students to be able to cast some of their spells wandlessly, but that Harry had achieved casting 99% of the spells without a wand and had gone on to cast several higher level spells also.

Next Hermione was asked to come forward and it was announced that these two had not only the highest grades for their year but for the school as a whole, in that they had maintained an "E" in every subject - both magical and non-magical. Alana asked for a round of applause for the two students, and apologized for embarrassing them.

Rick and Sirius showed up around 10am and Harry and Hermione were ready to go, all they had to wait on was Lucy to finish packing. Remus would join them later as he had volunteered to stay and help with the rest of the students who hadn't left yet. Alana came by and spoke with Rick and Sirius to convey her thanks for having Harry and Hermione for the term, they had set a standard that the others would have to follow.

The group soon arrived at the house they would be using for the next two months until they returned to England. Rick said that they were scheduled to go to Disneyland the following Monday for three days and then Harry and the rest would get a chance to see some more of the USA that few foreign wizards got to see. The kids spent several hours telling Rick and Sirius about their schooling and what had happened. Rick and Sirius were surprised when first Harry then Hermione called their elementals to introduce them. Then Lucy asked Windermere to show herself and that was almost more than Rick and Sirius could take, after which Lucy explained how she had come to be bound to Windermere.

On Monday the whole "family" headed to Disneyland for the next three days. The group enjoyed both sides of the theme park, Sirius seemed to enjoy the magic side more as he didn't have to hide his wand and such from people. Harry and Hermione could now say they had swam in both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Harry and Hermione even used their elementals to go down deep to see different types of ocean life and to watch a pod of whales play.

Everyone was having a ball, the kids spent time flying while the adults spent time relaxing. Harry and Hermione also spent time doing extra studying their favorite subjects, they also got to meet a few of the local kids from magical families that lived close by. The Grangers showed up to visit for a few weeks and it was then that the adults got together to plan Harry's birthday surprise party.

Harry was introduced to baseball and the Americanized version of soccer, or football as it was called in England. Both kids even got invited to play soccer by the locals, magical and non-magical, just so they could show some of the differences between the two styles. The magical kids were just as fit as the non-magical kids as they were encouraged to do physical activities, unlike the magical kids back in England. The "family" even went camping, which Harry and Hermione enjoyed; Sirius just complained that it was inconvenient to not use magic.

On July 31st Harry was awaken early by Hermione and dragged to the kitchen for breakfast and a family celebration of Harry's birthday. The presents were many and varied, Hermione got Harry some books on Magical Defense plus a new soccer ball, Lucy gave Harry a picture of a fully setup potions lab and said it was waiting back home for him as he had progressed far enough to need it. After breakfast Harry was asked what he wanted to do for his birthday and the whole group went to the beach. This was the first time Dan and Emma got to see Hermione in her new swimwear, a modest two-piece in Lime Green (which didn't go well with Harry's Flame Red trunks).

Around 3pm Rick was summoned to the office for something and had to leave. It was only an hour later when everyone decided to return home to get cleaned up and go out to eat for supper. They had just gotten in the house when Lucy remembered that she had left something for Harry in the backyard and sent him out to get it, saying he would know it when he saw it. Just as Harry walked out the back door about thirty people jumped out and shouted "Happy Birthday Harry". There standing in the middle was Rick with a big grin on his face. The group was a mixture of local kids and some parents who had met Harry and Hermione over the past few weeks, and it was a mixture of both worlds - magical and non-magical.

There was cake and ice cream and party favors for everyone. Harry received many more gifts and had a real good party, in fact it was sad to see it end. The grand finale was a huge fireworks display that threatened to out do even Disneyland's, courtesy of Sirius and Remus. To Harry this was the best birthday he had ever had in all of his ten years. Harry was surprised when he found one more present on his bed that night, an envelope addressed to him. When he opened the envelope he found a card from Alana wishing him a happy birthday and a piece of parchment inviting him to attend a weekend workshop in wand and magical aids construction. At the bottom was a handwritten note saying Hermione was invited too.

The next morning Harry showed the card and invite to Hermione and the rest of the "family". The date for the workshop was the second weekend in October, but he needed to reply by September 1st so the school could plan the event and know how many people were coming besides students. Harry asked if he and Hermione could attend and was told that they were sure they could arrange something, if the Grangers agreed to Hermione's going. Hermione said she would ask her parents as soon as they got up. Once the Grangers were up they had a few questions about the invitation, how much could the kids learn in just a weekend was the first one. That was answered by the fine print saying it would be a compressed weekend, the equivalent of three weeks in two days. The next question was how to handle the cost and transportation, Sirius answered by pulling out a letter from Alana saying this was to be a reward for Harry and Hermione's achievements during the summer session and that if needed Peaks would supply a portkey for the kids and one adult. Dan and Emma looked at each other and then said Hermione could attend.

The whole group packed up and left for England the following weekend, Dan and Emma needed to get back to their work. The kids needed to start getting ready for school, and Rick needed to start his new job as the US liaison to the English ministry; this was a new position mandated by the ICW to keep an eye on the English, several countries were asked to send a representative. The US, France, Japan, and Italy were the ones chosen to send their representatives. "This could get real interesting as we each report to our respective ICW representative as to what the English are doing, and not doing, in regards to the ICW requests for change.", Rick explained with a smile.

Rick told them he had met the woman from Italy and the man from Japan, both thought that the educational standards in England were outdated and needed changing. The woman from France had not been decided yet so nobody knew what to expect from that country. But education was only one of the areas that the ICW wanted reformed, they wanted a close watch on the wizengamot and ministry also.

The trip back to London was without incident and everyone was glad to be back in very familiar surroundings. Twinkie was ecstatic to see her "family" back and had a huge meal ready for them. Several of the other elves were heard to say welcome back also, it seemed that Rick and Lucy had hired a few more over the summer so Twinkie wouldn't have to do all the work herself, she was now the senior house elf of the household of Green.

It was a two weeks before school started when Harry asked the question of what to do about the schooling he had received in the states, he was now pasted the level he was scheduled to attend in public school - as was Hermione. Lucy said she would see what could be done the next day, but if worst came to worst then they would see about having home school for Harry and Hermione.

The next morning Lucy, armed with a copy of Harry's transcript, went to see the school administration. At first she was given the run-around, then she demanded to speak with the headmaster of the school. That turned out to be even more of a problem, the head was out sick and the assistant wasn't sure how to handle the request without having Harry test out of the classes. This wasn't acceptable to Lucy and she requested that the assistant head call the superintendent for instructions as to how to handle a non-English transcript. The superintendent's office said the transcript should have been submitted at least three months in advance to be considered. That was the last straw for Lucy, she told the assistant head that Harry would not be attending the school and would be home-schooled that year. When she left the school, Lucy went straight to see Emma and Hermione and told them what she had learned. Emma made a call to Hermione's school and got basically the same information, the transcript should have been submitted three months ago (before the classes were even completed) by the school itself. But, if she could get an official transcript they would evaluate it and then adjust Hermione's schedule by Christmas. Hermione was now listed as a home school student.

That night when Rick and Remus heard about the situation with the school they both agreed that home school was the way to go. Remus said he was certified by the London school system as a teacher and he could take care of the lessons. The only catch was he wasn't sure he could keep the two kids occupied and interested since he usually taught lower years. Also, with Harry and Hermione's advanced studies he wasn't sure he could keep up with the two, especially in math. Remus asked if it was too late to get Harry back in at Peaks; Harry was all for this except "What about Hermione?" was the question he asked.

Lucy said she would talk with Emma tomorrow and see what she thought about the idea, meanwhile Rick could talk with Alana to see if it was too late for the kids to return. Just as she finished the phone rang and it was Hermione, she had not received an answer when she called Harry and thought he might be there. Lucy took charge and told the kids they could talk later after she had spoken with Hermione's parents about the schooling. It was an hour later when Harry was called back to the phone to talk with Hermione. The only information either one had was wait and see what Rick found out.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I seem to have left you hanging. What will Harry and Hermione do? Will they go back to Peaks or will they stay and let Remus try and teach them the "normal" school subjects? Please note I have changed the rating and pairings; it's now T and H/Hr**

**I really hate cliff hangers, but I have not made up my mind about the next school year yet. Maybe some of you readers would like to make your thoughts known to me in a review. Either way the next chapter will deal with the workshop mostly.**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


	14. Chapter 14 AuthorNotes1

**Beyond Hogwarts**

**Reviews**

**I want to thank all the people who have posted reviews and suggestions to this little tale. The only "pay" I get for this is your review (and I think I need a raise :) ). Some of the reviews held suggestions that have been incorporated into the story already, some will come about later, and I think you. At times I get stuck and your reviews and suggestions help get me unstuck and back to writing.**

**Notes**

**I have read what you wrote and so far nobody wants Harry and Hermione to go to "regular" school this year. Now all we have to wait for is Alana's input when asked. This tale is close to the end as Harry and Hermione are getting close to that time when the Hogwarts Letters are sent out, after that happens then it won't be "Before Hogwarts" any longer. So, unless I get many, many negative suggestions I plan on doing at least the first year at Hogwarts - The Sorcerer's Stone next, but I need a better title so not to infringe on JKR. This is where you the readers come in - GIVE ME SOME SIMPLE TITLES TO CONSIDER please. Several of you have said Harry is progressing too fast and you are correct. I intend to slow him down some over the school year and the summer that follows. Harry WILL be more equipped when he goes to Hogwarts than he was in the books (that is the purpose of this story, to equip Harry for his role in the magical world). There will be some Horcrux involved but not to the same extent as in the books. I intend to give "Moldyshorts" a few problems that he didn't have in the books. Harry's advanced education is just one of those problems {evil grin x2}.**

**The problems that Dumbledore has received so far is only just starting to effect him. Just wait until Harry comes to the school. To answer a question sent by email - yes Gustus will soon make his self known, but in what manor is to be decided still. To warn all of you, I steal borrow ideas from other stories and use them here in mine so be prepared (where do you think I got the time compression?). Oh yea, I almost forgot - the ages used in the titles are related to Harry's age at the time. In chapter 13 he is 9 going on 10 (in fact he had his 10th birthday in the chapter).**

**Until the next chapter, keep reviewing and I will keep thinking what to have happen next.**

**Medico**


	15. Chapter 15 School age 10

**Before Hogwarts**

**School 4 (age 10)**

Rick was able to get in touch with Alana the next day and she said it would not be any trouble for Harry and Hermione to attend classes at Peaks, in fact if needed she would send the letters out that day and include the supply list for the term. Alana offered to send a portkey that would transport them, once they got to the states, to the school's portkey point. Rick told everyone what he had found out and Lucy called Emma and Hermione to let them know the outcome. The two women, and Hermione, decided to have a get-together for both families the next night at the Granger's house.

Harry got his letter the next day, but it came to #4 Privet which upset Vernon. Petunia called Lucy and told her Harry had a letter from somewhere in the states. Harry and Lucy went to pick up his letter but had a bit of trouble. It seemed that Dumbledore had decided to try and contact Harry again, and again had been repelled by Rick's wards. He was watching when Harry and Lucy came to Privet Dr. and approached the door. Dumbledore could sense that the woman was a witch, but couldn't get a good look at the young boy with her.

Dumbledore had not thought to disillusion himself, he just cast "notice me not" so the muggles would ignore him. It was after Lucy and Harry were inside that Petunia told them that someone was standing across the street watching the house. Lucy disillusioned herself and went out the back door and around the house to see who was watching. She was surprised to see Dumbledore standing across the street, he seemed to be struggling to fight the effects of the ward. Lucy went back inside and called Twinkie and had her to go tell Rick about Dumbledore. Twinkie returned moments later with Rick in tow.

"Why is Dumbledore watching the house?", Harry asked.

Nobody had an answer for that question, but Rick commented that Dumbledore surprised him by being that close to the wards and still standing. While they watched they saw Dumbledore cast a spell towards the house, Harry reacted faster than anyone else and put up his shield - between the house and Dumbledore. Dumbledore's spell bounced back to him and canceled the "notice me not" spell that had been cast. That was enough to distract Dumbledore and the ward took effect again, Dumbledore became very confused and wanted to leave the area. Dumbledore had gotten one piece of information, there were three magical people in the house, before the shield went up and reflected his finite spell.

Once Dumbledore was back at Hogwarts he thought about what he had learned, his spell had revealed three magical people - one was male and two were female. That must mean that Harry was in the house, but maybe he was wrong in that the child with the witch was male - it could have been an underdeveloped female. He had also learned that the wards around the house were on top of his own wards, and stronger. This was very puzzling, who would have cast those wards. He should have been able to break them, but didn't get the chance. It was hard to break the wards and control his fear and need to leave at the same time.

Meanwhile back at #4, Petunia had given Harry his letter from the states. Harry opened it immediately and it was an acceptance to Peaks and the school supply list. Also, there was his "Assistant Flying Instructor" badge in the envelope. Harry was now officially accepted at Peaks, the supply list didn't look too bad (most of it he already had, except for a few books). Rick left via Twinkie, while Lucy and Harry left like they came.

That night Harry told Hermione about Dumbledore showing up at #4 again and the effect the wards seemed to have on him. Harry also told Hermione that he was going to see if Peaks had any classes on wards and if so he wanted to take them. Hermione wasn't too interested in the warding classes but she was interested in seeing if they offered anything related to international law regarding witches and wizards, she thought that would come in handy later. The group enjoyed a very good meal and everyone was having a good time.

It was after supper and the kids had gone outside to play ball or fly, the adults had sat down to have coffee when Lucy said she had found some information the Grangers might find interesting. After hearing about Dan's aunt, Lucy had started doing some research into Dan's family background. It turned out that his great aunt "Lizzie" was a witch, and she was related to the Black family - a family listed as Ancient and Nobel in the magical world of Great Britton. But that particular branch of the family had not produced a magical person in over 200 years, other than Aunt Lizzie. Lucy went on to say that when she looked back in Emma's family tree she found that Emma might be related to the Abbots, but she wasn't sure and the easiest way to find out was through the goblins at the bank.

The adult's conversation was interrupted by one of the wards going off. Everyone ran for the back yard as Rick explained that the alarm indicated that a were creature had passed through the wards at the rear of the property. When they got outside they found that Harry and Hermione were on brooms and playing catch in the air. Rick was just getting ready to call out to the kids when Remus was heard to say "Greyback!" to himself. When he looked, Rick saw the werewolf just below the kids. Lucy reacted first and sent her elemental to protect the kids, Remus could be heard cussing under his breath that it was too far to cast a spell accurately. That thought didn't stop Harry who was above the creature, suddenly the creature was engulfed in fiery bands that held him captive.

When the adults, minus the Grangers, arrived at the site of the creature it was all Rick and Lucy could do to keep Remus under control. Remus explained that it had been Greyback who had bitten him when he was a child and turned him into a werewolf. Greyback had a habit of seeking out children to attack. Harry asked if killing the creature would make Remus feel better later after he calmed down. Remus admitted that it wouldn't. It was decided to turn Greyback over to the DMLE, after he was restrained by the usual wizard spells instead of the fiery bands of Firebeard. It took all three adults to Stupefy the werewolf and bind him securely. Harry and Hermione were sent to hide until the DMLE had left with Greyback.

Harry, Hermione, and Lucy arrived at Peaks two weeks later so the kids could start school. They had arrived a day early as requested by Alana; she wanted to speak with Harry and Hermione before classes started. Alana asked the kids if they wanted to concentrate on magical or non-magical studies, both kids said they would prefer magical but wouldn't mind a few non-magical classes if they were interesting. Alana told them that the classes for non-magical weren't that interesting unless the two wanted to spend most of their lives in the mundane world and work there. Harry would stay in the House of Fire and Hermione would stay in the House of Air, just like they did during the summer term.

The first day of classes was on Monday and Harry and Hermione had already been up and done their run before going to breakfast. Just as breakfast was over the heads of house started passing out schedules for the first years, all other years had received their schedules during the nigh before. Harry was taking Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and was scheduled to assist with the first years, and remedial, flying lessons. Hermione was taking Herbology, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, and Spell Creation, plus helping with the flying lessons. Both kids were automatically on their House's Quidditch team.

The first flying class was real interesting as some of the students knew Harry from the dorm and were surprised when he was assigned to work with a group of five students, as was Hermione. As usual there was at least one person who thought they were better than everyone else and didn't need lessons. The cure for that was a challenge to compete against either Harry as a seeker or Hermione as a chaser. After the challenger was firmly embarrassed everyone paid attention to their lessons. The first remedial class wasn't much of a problem once Harry and Hermione showed what a broom could do, even a school broom, and offered to work with anyone who needed extra help.

It was the start of the third week of school and it was Hermione's birthday, Harry had gotten with some of the kids that hung a round with them and they had planned a party for her, a surprise party for after supper that night. Shortly after supper Hermione was called to her head of house's office, she was told she was leading her year already and the head was proud of her. When Hermione walked back in to her common room there was a large crowd there waiting along with a banner proclaiming "**HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERMIONE**". She received several gifts, but the best was the party itself.

The next big event was the weekend seminar on wands and magical aids. Everyone attending was housed in one tower, so the time compression wouldn't effect the whole school. Once the seminar started the first thing was the introduction of the guest instructors, one of which was the man that had made Harry's first wand and suggested he might do well with a staff. With the time compression the weekend would last three weeks, one week would be spent in each area - wands, staves, and other aides. Harry and Hermione spent the first week in wands under the instruction of Ollivander from London.

Harry and Hermione had been warned by Alana that like previous British students they would have to acquire a "British" wand before they went to Hogwarts and it would be best if Mr. Ollivander didn't recognize them. She offered to cast a strong glamour spell on them and to hide their identity on the attendant rolls. The kids took her up on her offer. Harry and Hermione both learned a lot from Ollivander and about the creation of wands, after all his family had been creating wands for over 22 centuries.

The second week was to be the study of staves. The instructor was named Grimstead and he recognized Harry right a way but agreed to keep his secret. Grimstead started out explaining that not everyone needed, or could use, a staff. That the only wizards or witches that needed a staff were the ones that had a very strong core. Grimstead explained that the construction of a staff was different from a wand in that a staff could have as many as 5 to 10 cores while a wand usually only had two at most. The first lesson was how to select the staff itself, what types of wood was best. The class would each select the wood type that suited them and that suited their magical core. The next step was to find out what cores suited each person, and were compatible with the wood, and what the person thought he, or she, would need a staff to do. The next step was to insert the cores into the staff and seal it. The last step was to finish the staff so it wasn't rough.

The second day of class was when they tried to finish selecting the correct type of wood for their staff. Hermione chose, or was chosen by, Redwood; Harry had a hard time choosing his wood type, nothing seemed to fit until Grimstead suggested Ironwood. The sliver of Ironwood seemed to glow when Harry touched it, but there wasn't enough there for a staff so Harry would have to find a mature Ironwood tree or cut down a smaller one to get his wood. The afternoon session was devoted to going out and watching Grimstead "harvest" the wood needed for the staves they would create. Most of the wood needed were easy to find and Grimstead demonstrated the technique used to gather the wood without killing the tree or having to cut down a young tree.

Hickory, Oak, Elm, Ash, and Birch were easy to find. Cypress, Hermione's Redwood and Harry's Ironwood weren't that easy to locate as Cypress didn't grow in the mountains, the Redwood would be found on the California side of the mountains, but the Ironwood was very rare. Only one person needed Cypress and only Hermione needed Redwood, but everyone went to watch Grimstead "harvest" the Redwood for Hermione. After class was over that day Harry still didn't have his wood, Grimstead said that if Harry would come back after supper the two of them would go and collect Harry's Ironwood from a secret location; and they did, Harry didn't ask where they were but thanked Grimstead for the extra help.

The next morning the class started the selection of cores for their staff. Most of the attendants selected common cores, Harry and Hermione had to be different and select, or be selected by, some unusual core components. Hermione ended up with Unicorn hair, an Eagle feather, a Hippogriff feather, a sliver of Fire Crab shell, and two Phoenix tears. Harry had a larger piece of Fire Crab shell, Dragon Blood, a Hippogriff feather, a Mermaid scale, a sliver of Granite, and three drops of his own blood. Grimstead just shook his head when he saw the cores for both Harry and Hermione, he suggested that they ask the third instructor if she though they could use gems (even if they wouldn't have her until next week, they could ask her after supper).

Harry, Hermione, and Grimstead met with the third instructor, Ms. Smit, after supper that night. After Grimstead exsplained why they wanted to speak with her she agreed to take a look at the staves and see if she thought a gem would be of any use to the two kids. After she got over the shock of seeing the cores of the staves she said that if she knew which elementals they had connections to she might have a better idea as to what gems would be appropriate. Harry asked that the two not mention what they were about to see before calling Firebeard and Windford, while Hermione called Windy. Seeing someone as young as Harry call two elementals, Ms. Smit said he would be best served by Rubies and Diamonds, while Hermione would be served by Diamonds alone. But they needed to see if the gems reacted to the kids first, and it would be the next day before she would have access to her gems.

The next morning instead of going to Grimstead's class, Harry and Hermione went to see Ms. Smit in her class. Smit had Hermione handle several stones and appeared surprised when an especially perfect blue-white diamond glowed when Hermione handled it. Harry on the other hand seemed to be very selective when he picked up a gem. The first Ruby he touched glowed slightly, but the forth one glowed very brightly and a ball of fire formed over his hand.

When Harry got around to handling the diamonds he got several reactions but none as strong as Hermione's. Then Hermione happened to drop hers and when Harry picked it up it glowed even brighter than it had for Hermione. Ms. Smit asked if there was a place where they could try out an idea she had. After turning the class over to her assistant, the three went outside to an area that was included in the time compression, where it should be safe to cast spells.

Harry was asked to hold both gems in his hand and cast a simple spell without a wand. When he asked which spell Ms. Smit said whatever spell he could cast without a wand. Harry explained that included almost all of the first level spells and a few of the second level spells. Harry chose the levitation spell. He cast it on a rock and the rock shot up into the air.

"That is usually what happens when Harry does that spell", Hermione said. But Harry interrupted her to say he only thought the spell that time and had not cast it (the rock was still in the air). Harry handed Hermione the diamond and she told Harry to bring his rock back down first. Harry blushed and canceled his spell so that the rock floated to the ground.

Hermione did the same spell and again the rock shot into the air and was soon out of sight. After canceling her spell Hermione did the spell again, but without the diamond and got a much more normal reaction. "Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter, I believe we should split the diamond as it is big enough to be used by several people as a focal stone and usually it only requires only a small piece for that. I would be happy to split off a small piece for each of you to use in your staff so you can complete your assignment. But I want both of you to attend my class next week. I think that class is in for a few surprises from you two", Ms. Smit said with a look of wonderment.

Once back inside Ms. Smit did as she had promised and gave Harry a small piece of both the diamond and the ruby, while giving Hermione a small piece of the diamond also. Harry and Hermione rejoined Grimstead in class after lunch. The rest of the class had spent the morning trying to learn the spells required to insert the core into their staff. While the rest worked on their own staff, Grimstead showed Harry and Hermione the spells and the techniques needed.

Harry wanted to polish his staff first so as not to disturb the core later, Hermione asked if it made a difference and was told to hold her question for a few minutes. Grimstead called the attention of the whole class and had Hermione repeat her question. Grimstead then asked the class what they thought the correct answer was, would it make a difference or not. Nobody, except Harry, thought it would make a difference; Grimstead said they were correct and incorrect at the same time. The type of wood, the contents of the core, and the method of polishing would make a difference.

Grimstead explained that due to Harry's wood type it would require much more force and time to polish his staff, not to mention the heat created by the polishing. So in Harry's case it did make a difference, but it shouldn't make any difference to any of the others - except Hermione. Everyone returned to their staff while Grimstead showed Harry and Hermione the correct way to polish their staves before inserting the cores. Hermione's staff was ready first and Harry, along with Grimstead, watched as she attempted the insertion of the core. The only problem she had was she almost arranged the core incorrectly, but Grimstead caught that and had her correct the arrangement and alignment of the core. Harry would have to wait until the next day to complete his staff.

The next morning, while most of the class was finishing up and starting to test their staves, Harry finished polishing his staff and with Grimstead watching closely started inserting his core. When Harry used the spell to make the wood open up Grimstead was amazed to see it open easily and cleanly. Harry was puzzled as to which component to put on which end, Grimstead said to put the Ruby in the middle between crab shell and the Hippogriff feather with the dragon blood applied to them afterwards. The sliver of Granite would go on the bottom of the core, the end closest to the ground.

Once Harry had his staff closed up again Grimstead had Harry to apply a special sealant that he said was a family and trade secret. Now it was time to test the staff Harry thought, but Grimstead said he wanted to do some special treatments to the staff first and no Harry could not watch as these were trade and family procedures. Harry said he would go watch Hermione test her staff while Grimstead treated the staff.

When Harry got outside to watch the rest of the class test their staves he found that nobody's staff seemed to work. Hermione was standing off to the side and looking upset so Harry went over to her. She was upset because one of the others had said that the reason her staff didn't work was because she was a poor excuse for a witch.

"Mione, you are a very powerful witch. You can do almost all the spells we are supposed to do in second year without a wand and you even do some of the third year spells without your wand. That takes power. Now point out the idiot who insulted you, then hit him with a good jinx and don't use your wand", Harry said as he squeezed her hand.

Hermione just smiled and pointed at one of the others, suddenly the boy was floating upside down in the air and everyone saw he had a large hole in his pants. Everyone was laughing and Hermione laughed so hard she lost concentration and the boy fell to the ground. When Grimstead came out and saw that none of the staves were working he just shook his head and called the students to him.

"I see I forgot to explain that a staff has to be activated first before it will work correctly. Now form a line, Ms. Granger would you come up first. Now, stand here facing that empty space with all the rocks in it. First thing is to activate your staff, place the butt of the staff on the ground and say 'Awaken' with authority", Grimstead explained.

Hermione did as instructed and when she said "Awaken" there was a slight flash of power seen. Next Grimstead had her attempt to levitate one of the rocks about 50 feet away using only her hand to direct the spell. The rock jumped into the air about 30 feet and stayed there. Grimstead had her release her staff and the rock fell back to earth. Grimstead congratulated Hermione and told her to return to the queue of students, but to tell Harry that he would be last to test his staff as it was still drying.

Each of the students came up in order and activated their staves and preformed a simple spell to show that their staff was activated. A few never got any spell to work, including the boy who had insulted Hermione. When it was Harry's turn Grimstead called Harry's staff to him and handed it to Harry. Harry saw that his staff now had metal caps on each end golden in color. When Harry took the staff he "knew" which end was the top and which end was bottom. Harry followed the procedure and when he said "Awaken" he and the staff were bathed in fire for a few seconds followed by a whirlwind that surrounded both of them.

Grimstead just laughed and told Harry quietly that he knew Harry would be powerful. Harry chose a "rock" much further away and it rose into the air and began to "dance" around as Harry moved his hand. Grimstead asked Harry if he could bring the rock closer so the group could see it better. The rock was about 3 feet across once it was close enough to see clearly. Several comments were heard from the queue, mostly in shock and wonderment.

"Now you can all see what a true staff can do, I admit even I was surprised at what this young man - a second year - could do. Now those of you who were able to activate your staff felt a small surge of power and should not have felt a strain when you cast your spells like you do normally. This is because you tapped into the natural magic of the land. This magic is called Ley Lines and a very large one runs very close to this location so it is easy to tap into. Some of you showed what I said at the start, not everyone can use a staff. Now, if you will watch I will show you how to adjust the length of your staff so it is more comfortable to use. You can shorten a staff but can never increase the length over what it was when made. To try and make a staff longer than it was when made you weaken the staff and it might explode injuring or even killing you", Grimstead explained. He then took out a wand sized piece of wood and it expanded to a full staff.

Grimstead worked with each student to adjust their staff length and explained how to adjust it as the need arose. He saved Harry and Hermione for last. Grimstead explained that he understood that they were from England and that most wizards didn't use staves there so they would have to conceal their staves when they went back home. He also explained that if they ever studied Runes they could inscribe runes on their staff to make it work better. Having seen some of the others looking "wantingly" at Harry's staff he showed both kids how to tie the staff to themselves so nobody else could use it, he also showed them how to "share" their staves with another, but warned that even shared the staff wouldn't work against the owner.

The next day was a free day so Harry and Hermione, along with several others who had been in Grimstead's class, were out practicing with their staves. The kids found that they could use each other's staff but the effect was less than when using their own. Harry and Hermione had taken a break when the same boy came by and tried to pick up Hermione's staff, he started changing colors and got a shock for his trouble. Harry and Hermione both laughed at the boy. When Hermione's roommate for the session, who had taken staves the first week and was just finishing gems, asked if she could look at Hermione's staff, Hermione said yes without thinking. The girl picked up the staff and nothing happened. This surprised both Harry and Hermione, until the girl said it was because Hermione gave permission first. The staff wouldn't work for her, but she could handle it safely until Hermione demanded it back, at which point the staff would become hostile.

Grimstead had walked up during this and awarded the girl house points for remembering his lecture and staff courtesy. He then told Harry and Hermione they had each received points for their accomplishments in his class. He went on to explain how to carve runes in Harry's staff, since it was ironwood it would take a different method than usual. He explained that the key was to inscribe a power rune in the hand position and one on the butt to receive the power either from the Ley lines or themselves. In addition to adding to the power of the staff the runes added to the looks of the staff and made it look most impressive.

The next, and final, week was Gems for Harry and Hermione. This would be a short week as they lost a day due to the time compression. As usual the instructor, Ms. Smit, explained the uses of gems in magic and how they could be used as focus items in some spells and rituals, on the first day. The second day was showing which gems were useful for which type of spells, like Rubies for fire related spells and blood rituals, Diamonds for air related spells and rituals (and some earth based spells), Sapphires were for water based spells and rituals, and Topaz was mostly earth based. She explained that opals were supposed to aid in mind magic, but she wasn't that versed in mind magic so she wasn't sure that was correct.

The second half of the second day was when the students started to see what gems they were attuned to and might possibly be of use to them. Once again Harry chose, or was chosen by, Rubies and Diamonds, while Hermione got Diamonds again plus Sapphires. The third day was a continuation of the previous day and they were shown general polishing techniques to shape and refine the gems. The fourth day was a demonstration of the gems in spell work. Harry and Hermione were asked to stay when the class ended.

Ms. Smit told both kids that she had been thinking about them ever since she had helped them with their staves. She had a present for each of them, but Harry's would be delayed due to the gems that were attuned to him. Hermione received a bracelet with diamonds and sapphires embedded. Ms. Smit gave Harry a ring that had ruby and diamond chips and said to wear it on his right middle finger, she then said that this ring was the first of two gifts and the second would come to him in a few days after the seminar ended.

Everyone from the seminar was a little disorientated the next day when they exited the time compression, but since it was a real time Sunday they would have most of the day to readjust. Of course the ones who didn't attend wanted to know what people had learned during their seminar. All the girls were impressed with the gemstones that Hermione wore, she had been one of two girls in the seminar. The other girl that attended the seminar didn't receive a piece of jewelry but had a nice Topaz to have made into something. Just a few of the seminar attendees had staves since everyone couldn't use or control a staff and Grimstead refused to let them keep them. Hermione did ask Grimstead if she should, or could, insert Sapphires into her staff; he said if she ever wanted to just to bring the gems and her staff to him and he would see if they could be inserted. But adding to a core was difficult once the staff had been completed and bound.

Halloween was another blast for Harry and Hermione. Harry went as a Druid, complete with staff, and Hermione went as a nymph, much to her embarrassment due to the lack of clothing. During Christmas the kids went home to show and tell what they had learned. When Rick, Remus, Sirius, and Lucy saw the staves and the jewelry the kids had they were surprised. Harry's second gift had been a medallion containing all the gems with a ruby as the center piece. The kids had fun, but Christmas was soon over and it was back to school again.

On Easter the adults came to Peaks instead of the kids coming home. The Grangers got to see the school and see some of the things Hermione had learned, plus an exhibition Quidditch match featuring Hermione and Harry. It was during this break that Alana pulled Sirius to the side and suggested that if Harry was going to Hogwarts that it might be a good idea to train him in the use of his staff in non-magical ways as well as magical. She knew that type of training wasn't available through Hogwarts. Sirius agreed and said he would see who he could find to train his godson.

The rest of the year went by with only minor incidents. Harry and Hermione were both docked points for pranks, along with two of their friends. But since a lot of the points were earned by them their housemates didn't get to upset, a few were upset because they hadn't been able to join in on the fun of the pranks. It seems that Harry had been instructed by Sirius on the history of pranks as it related to the Potter line - especially Harry's father James Potter. At the closing feast it was announced that there would be a warding seminar held over the summer for those 16 and above who were interested. They were asked to submit their names prior to June 30th.

Harry asked Alana if there was any way he could attend and was told that he had a special invitation from one of the instructors, Grimstead, as he wanted to see what Harry could do. It seemed that Harry, and Hermione, had really impressed Grimstead during the Magical Aids Seminar. For now it was time to go home, relax, and be a kid.

* * *

**A/N: Well, Harry and Hermione have completed their second year of magical education, prior to attending Hogwarts. The next chapter(s) will deal with the summer vacation. I have decided to attempt to write their first year at Hogwarts, but with several changes due to their more advanced knowledge. Reviews are always wanted and suggestions are welcome as to how you think the first year should go. Remember Harry needs to have fun as well as prepare for Voldemort and Dumbledore.**

**Please be kind and press the green button below and leave a review.**


End file.
